A FORMER firefighter convicted of raping a schoolboy will launch a second bid to clear his name next month.

David Bryant applied to appeal against his conviction last year but the application was dismissed.

Now a second attempt to appeal against conviction will be heard at the Court of Appeal in London on March 4.

Bryant, now 65, of Grove Road East, Christchurch, was sentenced to six years in prison in January 2014 after he was found guilty of raping a 14-year-old boy at Christchurch fire station nearly 40 years earlier. The sentence was later increased to eight-and-a-half years by the Court of Appeal.

Victim Danny Day waived his right to anonymity to speak out following the first failed attempt to appeal.

He told the Daily Echo: "It didn't even get past the first hurdle. The first judge looked at it and dismissed it. I don't know how he got that far to be honest, he's in the place he should be in."

During the trial, held at Bournemouth Crown Court, the jury was told that Bryant, then aged 26, and fellow retained firefighter Dennis Goodman, now deceased, invited Danny Day to play darts with them at the station on three separate occasions.

Jurors heard that on the third occasion they held the boy, then aged about 14, over a table and took turns to rape him while also having sex with each other.

The victim said one of the men told him "you'll like this" and that they carried out the sex offence despite him crying out and screaming.

Afterwards, said Danny Day, Mr Goodman threw a £5 note at him and asked if he wanted to come back.

He said he had not told his family after the incident as he didn’t want to cause any problems, and had only confided in a friend. His decision to go to the police came after a visit to the area two years ago, and was partly inspired by the Jimmy Savile revelations, he added.