Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard was found not guilty yesterday over an alleged assault on a businessman during a bar brawl.
Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard was found not guilty yesterday over an alleged assault on a businessman during a bar brawl. The player voiced relief at the ruling, in a case which has hung over him since the incident last December.
"I'd like to put this case behind me. I'm really looking forward to the season and concentrating on football," he said in a statement.
Gerrard was accused of being part of a group that injured Marcus McGee (34) at the Lounge Inn nightclub near Liverpool on December 29.
The Liverpool captain was celebrating his club's 5-1 win at Newcastle then. He denied the charge of affray. An initial charge of assault was dropped at a court hearing in March. The jury took only 70 minutes for their verdict yesterday. Gerrard showed no emotion when it was read out.
Judge Henry Globe told Gerrard: "The verdict is a credible verdict on the full facts of this case, and you walk away from this court with your reputation intact."
Before sending the jury out to consider their verdict, the judge had told them to set aside "any football loyalty" in making their decision."
Giving evidence at the trial on Thursday, the 29-year-old midfielder had insisted he punched McGee only in self-defence. The row erupted after Gerrard tried to choose a few songs from a list of tracks being played on a CD player, but was prevented by McGee.
On Wednesday, McGee claimed that Gerrard attacked him "with a succession of well-aimed uppercut punches delivered with the style and speed of a professional boxer rather than a professional footballer."
At one point on Thursday Gerrard, who estimated that he was seven out of 10 on a drunkenness scale was asked to demonstrate an upper cut punch, and he did so.
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