Steven Gerrard ‘hit out like a pro boxer’

Liverpool Crown Court heard today how footballer Steven Gerrard "lost it" after a dispute in a nightclub and attacked a 34-year-old businessman, letting fly "with a succession of well-aimed uppercut punches, delivered with the style and speed of a professional boxer, rather than a professional footballer".

The Liverpool captain is the only one of seven original defendants to plead not guilty to a charge of affray following the incident at the Lounge Inn in Southport last December. Gerrard and his friends were celebrating his team's 5-1 win over Newcastle in a Premier League match. The other six pleaded guilty, leaving Gerrard alone to face trial.

David Turner, QC for the prosecution, described how the 29-year-old footballer asked Marcus McGee for a laminated list of music played at the club, saying: "Here y'are lad. Give me that lad." McGee, apparently, took offence at Gerrard's manner and his use of the word 'lad', and refused to hand over the A4-size card.

Turner then described what happened next: "Not many people on Merseyside, or indeed anywhere else, would refuse a request from Steven Gerrard, but Mr McGee did. There can be no doubt that this refusal astounded Steven Gerrard. He walked away back to his party, but the CCTV evidence shows how much his mood had changed. He was no longer the centre of that high-spirited party. He was clearly walking round, pondering, musing over what had happened, about the man who said no to Steven Gerrard."

Six minutes later, Turner said, Gerrard returned to the bar, where McGee was sitting on his own, and asked him: "Who the fuck do you think you are?"

After one of Gerrard's friends then elbowed McKee in the face, the footballer joined in with his uppercut punches. As result, McGee lost a tooth and sustained cuts to his face.

Gerrard told police that he had acted in self-defence. The trial will continue on Wednesday. ·