DISGRACED psychiatrist William Kerr was this afternoon launching a bid to clear his name.

The York consultant, from Alne, near Easingwold, was due to appear at the Court of Appeal in London.

He was found to have indecently assaulted a former woman patient by a jury in December, but it decided that he had been unfit to plead because of mental impairment. His representatives were due to claim today that December's hearing should never have gone ahead because of this impairment, and it had been an abuse of his human rights. His solicitor, Richard Manning, has previously said that if this case fails, it will be taken to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.

Updated: 12:12 Wednesday, July 25, 2001