A criminal once dubbed one of 'the Krays of the North East' is fighting to get his murder plot conviction over-turned.
Robert Webber served 11 years in a high security jail after being found guilty of conspiring to kill Terence Mitchell along with two accomplices.
The granddad, from Gateshead, was described as one of Tyneside's most feared gangsters in court.
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But he has always maintained his innocence and says his underworld connections were fabricated in court and he has never been more than a "petty" criminal.
Since his release from jail in 2008 Webber has been fighting to clear his name.
And he has now moved one step closer to getting his serious conviction overturned after the Criminal Cases Review Commission (CCRC) agreed to reopen his case.
Today Webber has told the Chronicle how he will not give up until he proves his innocence.
The 62-year-old said: "I just want to clear my name. I don't want to go to my grave with this conviction and I don't want my grandkids to think of me as that sort of person.
"I'm no angel, I never was an angel, but I'm innocent of these crimes."
Webber was jailed for 18 years in 1998 after being convicted of conspiracy to murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, at Newcastle Crown Court.
A jury found the dad-of-four and accomplice Paul Ashton guilty of being behind attempts to kill rival Terence Mitchell.
He was stabbed with a bayonet and shot in separate incidents around Gateshead during what was said to be a nightclub turf war in 1995 and 1996.
Paul Lyons, from Teesside, named by the victim to have carried out the stabbing, was jailed for 14 years for conspiracy to murder.
The trio, who were dubbed 'the Krays of the North East' in court, were caught after a two-year police investigation.
Webber admits being a burglar and a "petty" criminal but says his portrayal as a gangster in court was completely false.
"It was all rubbish," he said. "They labelled me as a gangster. They were calling us the 'Krays of the North East'. They just put labels on us to make us look bad."
Webber attempted to appeal his conviction, but failed.
However, his sentence was cut to 17 years due to delays in the case.
Webber, who now lives on Gateshead's Leam Lane estate, says he served a total of 11 years during which he remained a 'Category A' prisoner held in high security jails.
"I was a category A prisoner right until my release," he said. "It was a really hard time. But all my family stood by me because they knew I was innocent."
After being freed on licence in 2008 Webber's licence conditions meant that for years he faced arrest if he set foot in Gateshead, where his friends and family live.
"These years have been terrible. My family have suffered and my health has suffered," he said. "I was kept out of Gateshead for about two-and-a-half years. All my family were in Gateshead.
"I haven't been able to get on with my life I have just been fighting this case. It has took over all our lives.
"I have never been in a police station in that time. I'm not a gangster. I get on with everybody, everybody knows me. I'm a person who will help anybody."
The Chronicle has seen correspondence from the CCRC confirming that Webber's case has been reopened.
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