Six men involved in a bar room brawl with England footballer Steven Gerrard walked free from court today after being given suspended prison sentences.
Five of the men admitted affray and one admitted threatening behaviour in a fight with businessman Marcus McGee, 34, at the Lounge Inn in Southport last year.
Today, at Liverpool crown court, Recorder of Liverpool Henry Globe QC handed down sentences of 18 weeks' imprisonment but suspended them for 12 months. The defendants were also ordered to perform 150 hours of unpaid work.
The fight broke out in the early hours of 29 December as the Liverpool captain and his friends were celebrating the club's 5-1 destruction of Newcastle United.
The six initially denied the offence but changed their pleas on the first day of the trial in which Gerrard, 29, was acquitted.
McGee, who lost a front crown and suffered facial cuts in the fight, "unwisely" refused to let Gerrard pick a song on the stereo he was controlling, said the judge. "Equally unwisely" Gerrard returned to argue with Mr McGee.
It was at this point that the player's friend, John Doran, 30, of Huyton, appeared behind Gerrard and elbowed McGee in the face. A skirmish followed, with the midfielder punching McGee three times in self-defence.
He left the fight spot and returned to his friends, who later punched and kicked McGee, of Southport, on the dance floor.
Judge Globe told the men: "I am satisfied, from the evidence in the trial and movements of arms and legs on CCTV, that more violence occurred off-camera.
"It is the conduct of you taken together and the consequences which have followed the fighting which are important.
"It was unnecessary, unruly, ugly and unlawful group violence in public which caused injury to the victim, was a disturbing and frightening experience for onlookers and caused embarrassment and unwanted attention to the occupiers of the premises."
Doran's barrister, Nigel Power, said he displayed "poor judgment in drink and misguided loyalty which was wholly out of character".
Accrington Stanley footballer Robert Grant, 19, of Litherland, admitted punching the victim in the head from behind. His barrister, Trevor Parry-Jones, said he acted angrily, perceiving a threat to Gerrard who was "as much his hero as his friend".
Ian Smith, 19, of Huyton, kicked McGee on the floor "in a momentary loss of temper".
Accrington Stanley goalkeeper Ian Dunbavin, 28, of Southport, threw two punches at the victim, for which he expressed "remorse and shame", said his barrister Keith Sutton.
Paul McGrattan, 31, of Huyton, admitted affray on the grounds of pushing over a table and chair, throwing a punch and smashing a glass door when he left. He was shown on CCTV shouting and gesticulating as the manager tried to calm him down. The judge said there was an argument to be made that he was the most aggressive.
His barrister, Simon Killeen, said: "He has known Steven Gerrard since they were young teenagers and always shown an unswerving loyalty to him, which has been demonstrated on many occasions in the past. But on this occasion his behaviour was wholly inappropriate."
McGrattan's brother John, 34, of Huyton, denied affray but admitted threatening behaviour. He ran over to the trouble on the dance floor and threw a number of punches. His involvement was the same as the others, said the judge.
