Jury clears Gerrard in affray trial

Jul 24 2009

England footballer Steven Gerrard was a free man after he was cleared of unjustly attacking a man in a bar.

The Liverpool captain admitted hitting Marcus McGee, 34, in a Southport bar last December and a jury at the city's Crown Court accepted his explanation that it was in self-defence.

The 29-year-old was the only one of seven defendants to be cleared over the "explosion of violence" at the Lounge Inn during which Mr McGee lost a tooth and suffered facial cuts.

The trial heard that Gerrard was at the Lounge Inn in Southport, Merseyside, on December 29 to celebrate Liverpool's 5-1 demolition of Newcastle United hours earlier.

The Reds' captain, who scored twice in the game, was enjoying a night out with a party of friends including Anfield legend Kenny Dalglish, 58.

CCTV footage from the bar showed Gerrard and his friends drinking beer, downing shots and dancing round while chanting football songs. But trouble flared at around 2am when the father-of-two wanted to change the music on the CD player.

Prosecutor David Turner QC told the jury of seven women and five men that Gerrard lost his cool after Mr McGee refused his request to change the music.

He said the millionaire footballer stormed off in a huff and then confronted Mr McGee at the bar seven minutes later, talking to him for 23 seconds before swinging three upper-cut punches at him. However, Gerrard's version of events differed. The footballer, who denied affray, told the jury on Thursday that he was "shocked" by Mr McGee's attitude.

Five of Gerrard's friends who accompanied him that night admitted affray. They are Ian Smith, 19, of Hilary Avenue, John Doran, 29, of Woodlands Road, and Paul McGrattan, 31, of Linden Drive, all Huyton, and Accrington Stanley footballers Robert Grant, 19, of Enstone Avenue, Litherland, and Ian Dunbavin, 28, of Guildford Road, Southport.

Another friend, John McGrattan, 34, of Rimmer Avenue, Huyton, admitted threatening behaviour.