Know wot I mean, CHARLIE??

Boxer Bruno apologises for new cocaine shame

Last updated at 13:08pm on 4th November 2006

Former world heavyweight boxing champion Frank Bruno apologised today for relapsing into cocaine use.

Last year Bruno, 44, wrote candidly in his autobiography about a six-month period when he took the the Class A drug, but pledged to stay clean.

Today the ex-fighter and father of four admitted he had taken the drug again.

His agent David Davies said: "Frank has said that he is very sorry that this has happened.

"He has apologised to his family, he would also like to apologise to his friends and fans.

"This will not happen again."

Bruno apparently took the drug last weekend at his home in Leighton Buzzard, Bedfordshire, according to The Sun.

"I got high on the stuff and I am deeply ashamed," he told the paper.

"I have promised my daughters I will never touch the filthy stuff again - and it's a promise I intend to keep."

Last October extracts of the former fighter's autobiography Fighting Back were published.

In it he described the "black hole" he plunged into after taking cocaine and said he feared it may have contributed to his mental illness.

The troubled star was sectioned under the Mental Health Act in September 2003 and underwent treatment.

He said he took the Class A drug for six months after watching a fight in Las Vegas in 2000 and meeting some fellow English visitors.

"Cocaine took control of my brain," he said. "I wish I had never seen the stuff.

"Taking it was the worst thing I could have done in my mental condition. It was like a black hole with no ending."

In an interview with the News of the World when the extracts were published, he conceded that he might be tempted by drugs again, but said he would try to avoid it.

"Using drugs is not a nice experience," he said. "I didn't really want to get involved in Class A.

"I am talking about it now because I think it's better that I come clean."