‘Britain’s hardest man was a mild big – he saved girls like me protected’

Lenny McLean was a bare knuckle boxer, bouncer and bodyguard whose thirst for violence earned him nicknames like ‘Britain’s hardest man’ and ‘The King of the Cobbles’.

The legendary tales surrounding Lenny are endless – including a recent revelation that he was ‘like the Hulk and making jokes was dangerous’.

But one woman who worked as a DJ in London clubs in the 80s and 90s offered a completely different perspective of a man she referred to as a “second dad” and a “gentle giant”.

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Emma Daniels, 54, from West London, spoke exclusively to the Daily Star about her close bond with Lenny, who died of lung cancer in 1998 aged 49.

She told us: “Oh my God, he was the most beautiful man in the world. I knew him from working in nightclubs and he was a gentle giant who always looked out for me. Working in London as a female DJ was hard but with Lenny I was comfortable. The big man with a big heart.”

Emma was just a teenager when she started playing music in clubs in the capital – where burly Lenny was the doorman.

The underground boxer, a 6ft 3in, 20 stone man mountain, had a troubled start to life after his cruel stepdad broke his legs aged five – before shattering his jaw one year later.

But according to Emma, Lenny himself never resorted to such brutality when dealing with drunk and disorderly customers.

She said: “I was around 18 when I first met him and my first impression was he was very tall and very big but you know what? The nicest guy you could ever meet in the world.

“He was never aggressive and he would go over to the person (causing trouble) and say ‘have some respect, she is a woman playing her music, leave her be’. And that was it.

“He was the barrier between me and the people that were there. But he was never confrontational. Just his presence and knowing he was there was enough to put people off.

“I can’t say anything bad about him – he was just a wonderful bloke. I would walk into work and say ‘alright dad’ and he would say ‘alright Em’.” He would literally watch out for me every single moment I was there and I called him my second dad.”

The mum said her greatest memories of Lenny were the hugs and she said she knew all about his infamous reputation when they worked together.

She even said he introduced her to the likes of Charlie Kray and ‘Mad’ Frankie Fraser but said the gangsters were also polite in real life.

Emma now has a signed copy of his autobiography, The Guv’nor, at home which became a number one bestseller just one day after his death.

“He was very very young,” she recalled. “It broke my heart. He was the kindest, most gentle man. For women, he had total and utter respect. If he ever saw a woman in trouble he would walk over and say, ‘you alright my darling?’

“He was at the christening for my son for crying out loud. Sometimes I look at the sky and I think, ‘Lenny, you’re watching’.”