Organisers of an event which will bring disgraced boxing legend Mike Tyson to the Midlands yesterday defended the decision after objections by a victim support group.

The former world heavyweight champion served four years in prison in the USA after being convicted of rape in 1991.

Tyson, aged 38, is booked to appear at the Birmingham Hilton Metropole, near the NEC, on November 18 at a £130-a-head dinner.

Organisers say he will talk about his career and life outside boxing, before answering questions from the audience.

Tyson, who has just received a hero's welcome in Chechnya, will also be speaking at London's Park Lane Hilton and Old Trafford, home of Manchester United.

But Norman Brennan, from the Victims of Crime Trust said: "He has abused people in public, he has abused people in the boxing ring and he has abused women - and yet we let him in."