In the bizarre new video, a grinning Liz Truss is seen alongside 36-year-old Dougie Joyce, who was jailed for leaving an elderly man with ‘significant facial injuries’
Liz Truss has been slammed for appearing in a video with a bare-knuckle boxer who served time in prison for a ‘horrendous’ attack on a 78-year-old man.
The former Prime Minister is seen alongside convicted criminal Dougie Joyce in a bizarre new clip promoting the 36-year-old’s spirit brand, Joyce’s Irish Whiskey. Joyce walked free in November after being put behind bars for a 30-minute brawl in a bar in Manchester in October 2020, and was previously handed a 19-month sentence for attacking an elderly man in a pub.
But in a video filmed at a recent launch event , short-lived Tory PM Truss is seen smiling and proudly holding up a bottle of the bare-knuckle fighter’s whiskey to the camera in an apparent endorsement of his product.
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He is heard saying “Just remember, Dougie Joyce loves ya”, before she adds: “Liz Truss loves you.”
Sources close to Liz Truss told The Sun that she had not been paid for her appearance at the event last month, which was hosted at National League club Scunthorpe United’s stadium.
Another described her appearance alongside Joyce as a “serious lapse”, adding: “She’s a former Prime Minister and has to be extremely careful who she associates herself with. You have to wonder if anyone did the due diligence.”
In a post last week on Instagram, Joyce described it as “great honour to have former Prime Minister Liz Truss as a special guest at my event”, saying that the Tory ex-PM “took the time to speak about the future of business and the steps we can take moving forward.”
He added: “Having her there truly meant a lot and added a distinguished touch to the occasion.”
In October 2022, Joyce confronted a 78-year-old man in the back room of pub in Manchester city centre, shouting angrily before punching him three times, knocking him off his seat and causing severe bleeding.
He then stood over the victim and urged another man to hit him, before delivering a powerful left punch that sent him crashing over furniture. Joyce then leant over the helpless victim and hit him another time while he lay on the ground. The elderly man was left with “significant facial injuries”, in part because of the large gold ring Joyce was wearing.
Speaking after he was sentenced to 20 months in prison back in November 2023, Greater Manchester Police’s Detective Constable Natalie Hollows said: “Joyce is an aggressive and violent man who intended to intimidate and inflict pain on a vulnerable 78 year old man by carrying out this horrendous assault.
“Joyce was wearing a large gold pyramid-style ring when he punched the man in the face, causing him significant injury due to the size and shape accelerated by force and the series of punches he endured. I’m glad Joyce will now face time behind bars as punishment for his actions and hope he takes this time to reflect on the impact of his actions.”
And last May, Joyce was handed a 13-month jail sentence while his brother Tom was given 22 months in prison for a brawl with the rival Doherty family in another Manchester pub. Dougie Joyce ended up being released in November, and has since vowed to clean up his act by throwing himself into charity work and his drinks business.
The Mirror has approached Liz Truss’s representatives for comment.