Former footballer John Barnes has said Liam Neeson should be “given a medal” for revealing he went out looking for a black man to kill in revenge for the rape of a friend.

The former Liverpool and England midfielder praised the Irish star for confronting an uncomfortable truth about his past in an exclusive interview with The Independent.

“Liam Neeson was talking about revenge, it doesn’t do anyone any good,” Barnes told Sky News.

“What he went onto say is that he was ashamed and horrified by what he felt. He’s not ashamed at wanting to commit the act of revenge. He’s ashamed and horrified because that is what he thought about all black people. After a week he realised he was wrong. That is what he said.”

Liam Neeson through the years Show all 23 1 /23 Liam Neeson through the years Liam Neeson through the years March 1995 Liam Neeson stars In the movie ‘Rob Roy’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years October 1996 Neeson poses with co-star Aidan Quinn (right) and director Neil Jordan (left) at the Los Angeles premiere of their new movie ‘Michael Collins’ AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years March 2001 Neeson poses with the lightsaber he used in ‘Star Wars: The Phantom Menace’ at the ‘Movie Action for Children’ auction AFP/Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2002 Liam Neeson attends the Tony Award nominees brunch Getty Liam Neeson through the years July 2002 Neeson attends the world premiere of ‘K-19: The Widowmaker’ in Westwood, California Getty Liam Neeson through the years August 2003 Neeson films scenes from ‘Kinsey’ at Grand Central Station, New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2004 Neeson after a press conference for the movie ‘Kinsey’ during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years May 2005 Samuel L Jackson (left) and Neeson (right) pose with Chewbacca at the premiere of ‘Star Wars: Revenge Of The Sith’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2005 Gary Oldman, Sir Michael Caine, Christian Bale, Katie Holmes, Morgan Freeman and Neeson arrive at the premiere of ‘Batman Begins’ at the Grauman's Chinese Theatre Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2006 Pierce Brosnan (left) and Neeson attend the ‘Seraphim Falls’ press conference during the Toronto International Film Festival Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2008 Neeson poses by the river Thames before a screening of the action movie ‘Taken’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years June 2010 Neeson, Quinton ‘Rampage’ Jackson, director Joe Carnahan, Sharlto Copley, and Bradley Cooper arrive at the premiere of their movie ‘The A-Team’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2011 Neeson at the premiere of ‘The Grey’ in Los Angeles Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2012 Neeson poses next to the beach closet dedicated to him on the Promenade des Planches for the movie ‘Taken 2’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2013 Neeson presents an award at the Oscars Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Neeson holds his character from ‘The Lego Movie’ as he attends the premiere in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2014 Actors Michelle Dockery, Lupita Nyong’o, Neeson and Julianne Moore attend the premiere of their movie ‘Non-Stop’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years November 2014 Maureen O’Hara accepts an Honorary Oscar from Clint Eastwood and Neeson Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2015 Neeson signs posters as he attends a ‘Taken 3’ fan screening Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2017 Neeson reprises his role from ‘Love Actually’ alongside Thomas Brodie-Sangster for Comic Relief’s ‘Red Nose Day Actually’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years September 2017 Neeson appears on ‘The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon’ Getty Liam Neeson through the years January 2018 Neeson attends the premiere of ‘The Commuter’ in New York Getty Liam Neeson through the years February 2018 Neeson speaks after receiving an award for his career during the Golden Camera awards ceremony in Hamburg AFP/Getty

The 55-year-old - who infamously endured racist taunts from opposition supporters during his illustrious career - suggested the context of Neeson's interview had been “spun”, and blamed the media for racist stereotyping.

He said: “You cannot blame him [Neeson] for thinking that [all black people are criminals]… because of the influence the media has.

"You cannot blame people for thinking that Muslims – because of Muslim grooming gangs, Jamaican yardie gangs – then people look at Jamaicans and Muslims in a negative light, and he is admitting that this is the way he viewed it.

“So for this one black person who raped this woman, he then looked at it as all black people are rapists.

"Now, what he’s actually saying is, ‘This is what I thought, this is what I saw, and I am ashamed and I am horrified, and after a week I thought to myself, 'What am I doing?’

“And that is the reality of it. As much as people are now jumping on this bandwagon of how terrible it is, what he’s done is he’s come out and told the truth.

"He [Neeson] should be applauded for saying, 'Yes, I was an unconscious racist and after a week I realised I was'. And people are going to be afraid of admitting it now because of what's happened to Liam Neeson."

Liam Neeson: ‘I walked the streets with a cosh, hoping I’d be approached by a 'black b**tard' so that I could kill him’

In the interview, Neeson said his immediate reaction to being told a friend had been assaulted was to ask “Did she know who it was? No. What colour were they? She said it was a black person.”

The 66-year-old added: “"I went up and down areas with a cosh, hoping I'd be approached by somebody - I'm ashamed to say that - and I did it for maybe a week, hoping some [uses air quotes with fingers] 'black bastard' would come out of a pub and have a go at me about something, you know? So that I could kill him."