Many assumed he was an urban legend but when the age of the internet dawned it was revealed Purple Aki was real, and he had a trail of terror and even death in his wake.

A bodybuilder who was once ordered by a court not to touch men's muscles has been found dead at his home in Liverpool.

In the 1980s rumours and bogeyman-like tales swirled the Merseyside streets, with parents telling children to come inside before dark or 'Purple Aki would get them'.