DISGRACED coroner Jeremy Cave is to appeal against his sentence.

The solicitor was jailed for three-and-a-half years earlier this month after a jury convicted him of stealing £155,000 from dead clients' estates over a period of ten years.

The 53-year-old - who will face a Law Society disciplinary hearing next month - is now back in Holme House prison, Stockton, after being discharged from hospital following a heart attack.

His solicitor, Peter Boddy, has confirmed that he had spoken to Cave and that he would be pursuing an appeal.

"An appeal against the sentence will be lodged," he said. "We are awaiting reports at this time."

The coroner for North Yorkshire West, who had his own practice in Thirsk, was convicted on six counts of theft at Teesside Crown Court.

He was cleared of one charge and the judge ordered that two more should lie on file after a jury failed to reach verdicts.

Cave, who was suffering with sight problems during his trial, will face the Law Society in London on March 27 and is expected to be struck off.

The father-of-two collapsed with a heart attack in his Holme House cell days after being jailed.

Friends blamed his illness on the stress of the nine-week trial and the shock of being jailed.

Last week, civil rights campaigners expressed outrage after it was revealed that he had been handcuffed while on his hospital sickbed.