Former media tycoon Conrad Black has told Newsnight's Jeremy Paxman that he is proud of leaving the American prison system without losing his mind.
Mr Black was imprisoned for defrauding investors and was sentenced in 2007 to 6.5 years. He began his sentence in 2008, but was released in May this year due to good conduct.
During an interview aired last night, the former newspaper proprietor said most people who had gone through what he had gone through would have punched Mr Paxman in the face after the Newsnight host implied Black had no humility or shame.
"Let me tell you something, I am proud of having gone through the terribly difficult process of being falsely charged, falsely convicted and ultimately almost completely vindicated without losing my mind, becoming irrational, ceasing to be a penitent and reasonable person and actually being able to endure a discussion like this without getting up and smashing your face in, which is what most people would do if they had been through what I had been."
Paxman told Black to “go ahead”, but he refused.
“No, no. I don’t believe in violence,” he said.
Later in the interview, Black said he was going to “throw up” after Mr Paxman asked whether having a very extravagant wife make behaviour such as his more likely, referring to his second wife, Barbara Amiel, who many believe pushed him towards a lavish lifestyle.
“After seven years, my first morning back in Britain and am I to be subjected to this? She wasn’t extravagant and she’s a magnificent wife and she visited me every week in prison, even when she had to come back from China to do it.”
Mr Black also said that he plans to resume his seat in the House of Lords.
The full interview can be found on bbc.co.uk.
Quotes from Newsnight interview with Conrad Black
Paxman: "You're a criminal."
Black: "You're a fool. You're a priggish, gullible, British fool."
Black (referring to American prison system): "The whole system is a fraudulent, fascistic conveyor belt of the corrupt prison system."
Black: "I don't want to give your viewers the impression that I am trumpeting myself as an altogether made-over, virtuous person."
Black: "Jeremy, will you stop this bourgeois priggishness. You're talking as if…"
Paxman: "What's bourgeois priggishness? You're a criminal."