Thug left Liverpool player lying in pool of blood then fled UK after getting threats
Gardner used to be at the start exceeded an 18-month jail sentence in April 2021 but due to fleeing the UK, he remained at large whilst a European arrest warrant was once issued.
He claims the choice to go to Spain with his spouse and adolescents for the closing three years used to be due to threats being made to him and his household as well as suffering lessen marks on his midriff after being attacked.But Martyn Walsh, defending, told Liverpool Crown Court on Tuesday (April 9): “He now has 4 young children. He had been providing for his family over there. He returned to the UK for a family funeral. That is when he used to be arrested on the warrant. He now knows he need to be dealt with. Mr Gardner comes throughout as a very satisfactory man.”On pinnacle of his preliminary 18-month sentence, Gardner was surpassed an extra four months at the back of bars for the stunning attack that left George – who was once shrunk at Liverpool at the time – in concern of his life.
Sarah Griffin, prosecuting Gardner’s trial, until now described how George and his brother had been enjoying a night out celebrating a friend’s birthday earlier than they were attacked by using Gardner with CCTV photos showing him punch the brothers before he used to be dragged off.
Despite being dragged off, he launched a subsequent on George outside of the bar as he punched and kicked the goalkeeper to the ground, leaving the Birkenhead native bleeding closely from his eye with his brother claiming from the witness field that he feared dropping his sight.”I be aware seeing my brother outdoor on the floor, and there used to be a crowd around him,” Smith said. “He used to be screaming that he could not see out of his eye, there was a lot of blood and his eye used to be closed up. I tried to maintain him calm, hold him still and I informed him that I was once there.
