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One-time anti-gun campaigner Stephen French today apologised for infamously pistol-whipping a rival and declared: “I know it was hypocritical.”

The ex-gangster, who claims to have now shunned crime, has spoken for the first time about the weapon attack which led to police chasing him along the Mersey waterfront in front of stunned tourists.

And French has admitted his subsequent conviction for possessing a gun - nearly three years ago - was in stark opposition to his stance as a lobbyist against firearms.

The 55-year-old, no longer behind bars and serving the second half of his three year jail term back in public, on licence, is asking for a second chance.

French bludgeoned a businessman with an imitation gun over a money dispute in a Liverpool city centre office - before dumping the weapon and a machete in the river.

The former mobster bought the £90 Sig Saeur air pistol hours earlier from a Whitechapel store before confronting Paul Smith at the offices they both rented out at the Il Palazzo complex, in Water Street.

Now, French has confessed that he ‘fell from grace.’

In his first press interview about the bust-up, he told the ECHO: “I was an anti-gun campaigner who pistol-whipped someone.

“I’m guilty of a hypocritical act.

“I was under pressure at the time, and it was a poor decision.

“I don’t have a right to be an anti-gun campaigner again - but I still want to make a difference.

“But I will not fall from grace again.”

French, originally from the Toxteth and Granby areas of the city but currently living in Wirral, says he wrote to the Il Palazzo female receptionist from his prison cell.

He describes her as ‘the only victim that day’ as he relays his first ever account of what happened in February 2013.

And he claims he snapped after rivals provoked him to react by insulting members of his family.

French added: “When I got into that foyer, I came to my senses and realised it was all on CCTV.

“I frightened the girl something silly.

“I wrote to her from jail, apologising deeply for my actions, and explaining she didn’t have to get nervous if she saw me again.

“But I take full responsibility for my actions.

“People just think I’m a violent b*****d and they call me The Devil - that’s the picture that’s been painted of me.

“But I now want to make a difference.

“To tell young people in Liverpool about love and peace, not violence.”

French acquired the ‘Devil’ nickname because he struck fear into the drug dealers he ‘taxed’ and tortured, and became a well-known face in recent years after appearing on TV documentaries with presenters Ross Kemp and Danny Dyer researching criminal gangs in Britain.

The ex-debt collector, who speaks of being a part of the martial arts ‘Kizuna Brotherhood’, says he is also contemplating taking part in future bare-knuckle boxing bouts.

He added: “I’ve had threats against me. Someone even urinated on my dad’s grave, which is when the wheels fell off.

“But I’ve written to everyone I know and apologised to them”