That sounds like an interesting tale.
https://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/news/liverpool-news/who-john-kinsella-gangland-fixer-14621791
Who was John Kinsella? 'Gangland fixer' who helped Steven Gerrard shot dead
53-year-old was influential figure who had the audacity to appeal a jail sentence while on the run
By
Joe Thomas
- 10:02, 6 MAY 2018
- UPDATED20:04, 6 MAY 2018
Gangland enforcer John Kinsella had been an influential figure within Merseyside’s underworld.
A martial arts expert who hailed from the streets of Everton, he had the sway to stop a
thug nicknamed The Psycho from threatening to “maim”
Steven Gerrard .
He even had the audacity to
appeal a jail sentence while he was on the run - actually winning a
reduction in the punishment he was refusing to serve.
Kinsella’s reputation went national when Gerrard’s name was introduced to jurors hearing robbery allegations against Kinsella at a Lincoln Crown Court trial in 2008.
Then 43, he was one of four men accused of taking part in a robbery at a haulage depot in Grantham in which more than £41,000 of detergent, Easter eggs and Pringles were stolen.
During the March 2006 robbery, a night watchman was tied up by a gang of up to nine men wearing balaclavas and camouflage clothing.
No weapons were carried, but the victim was hit with his own stick after it fell out of his pocket.
A photo from 2008 of John Kinsella (Image: Lincolnshire Police/PA Wire)
Kinsella was captured on the outskirts of Greater Manchester after a high-speed chase with police on the A1 and M62.
He always denied the allegations, using his trial to claim he was in the area to collect a £100,000 debt.
That he had such a role was a key part of his defence, an argument bolstered by him being able to turn to the Gerrard family for their support in the case.
Jurors in the robbery trial were told he was contacted by the star’s family after the former Reds captain was “terrorised” by a mobster known as The Psycho.
Kinsella said the man responsible, George Bromley Jnr, was a “violent figure” whose father, another gangland enforcer, had been “executed”.
He claimed he spoke to George Bromley and from then on Bromley left Gerrard alone.
Pictured are forensic investigators at the scene (Image: Liverpool Echo)
The court was later read a letter from Gerrard’s father Paul – obtained after Kinsella went to his home – in which the claims were confirmed.
Mr Gerrard said that, for two years, The Psycho attempted to extort money from his son – and threatened to “maim” him – until Kinsella stepped in.
Mr Gerrard, whose letter was confirmed as genuine by police, said he and his son had “total respect” for Kinsella.
Despite that evidence Kinsella was convicted - though he was no longer under the gaze of the authorities when the verdicts were delivered after absconding just as his trial was coming to an end.
While on the run he had the audacity to challenge the 14 year, three month sentence given in his absence.
Road closures were immediately put in place, with part of the M62 slip road heading towards to Liverpool blocked off (Image: Liverpool Echo)
Appeal judges agreed his jail term was “manifestly excessive” and reduced it by three years, with Lord Justice Moses saying he found it a “curious business” that a man on the run from the law was appealing a sentence when he was not even in custody.
After 11 months on the run he was hauled back to the UK after being arrested at gunpoint by armed police in Amsterdam.
Kinsella, a judo and jujitsu expert, had already served a nine-year prison term when he was contacted by the Gerrards.
I fell down a rabbit hole reading about this, yesterday.
Messy as fuck.
