Neil, Mark and Alan McGovern are accused of attacking two men with metal poles, bats and screwdrivers in Liverpool over a claim of an attempted child abduction, a court heard
Liverpool: Brawl breaks out in Anfield
Three brothers wielding improvised weapons brawled with two workmen in the street after accusing them of attempting to abduct a child, a court heard.
Neil, Mark and Alan McGovern were said to have armed themselves with items including metal poles and a wooden bat during violent scenes outside a takeaway on Lower Breck Road in Anfield, which erupted the day after the former’s daughter had apparently been the victim of a thwarted kidnapping.
One of the complainants, who had been renovating a nearby pub, was left with a stab wound to the chest and bleeding on the brain as a result, having had his head repeatedly banged against the pavement while laying prone on the ground.
The siblings and a fourth man, Michael Lawal, went on trial at Liverpool Crown Court today accused of seriously assaulting the two casualties, but claim to have acted in self defence during the incident.
Ken Grant told a jury of six men and six women during the prosecution’s opening on Monday that the defendants carried out a “joint enterprise attack” on Paimani Jalali and Salar Azizi, who were left seriously injured following the altercation on October 22 last year.
Merseyside Police received reports of “multiple offenders fighting with weapons” at around 4pm on this date, with damage having also apparently been caused to the former’s white van, reported the Liverpool Echo.
Passing Matrix officers were directed to the scene, near to the junction with September Road, by members of the public and discovered Mr Jalali unconscious in the street with “lacerations” around his eyes and to the back of his head, as well as a “puncture wound” to his chest, a bleed on the brain and “minor damage” to his liver.
Mr Azizi was meanwhile found “semi conscious” and bleeding from his right eye, having suffered cuts to his back and the top of his head. Officers also noted “potential weapons”, including planks of wood, metal poles and screwdrivers, “scattered around the area”.
Mr Grant described the two men as being “innocent victims of serious assaults carried out by these defendants”, adding: “There had been a report the previous day by Neil McGovern, who said that some men in a white van had tried to kidnap children.
“Police enquiries took place. The two men had not approached any children. There were community tensions apparently, thus a lot of police officers arrived at the scene.” Mr Jalali subsequently recalled that he had been working in the area with a colleague and had been driving his van around a corner when “two men approached and smashed the windscreen with an object”.
He was then apparently assaulted by “a number of men”, being “hit over the head multiple times” and “seeing something metal, possibly a knife” before “waking up in the back of an ambulance”.
Mr Azizi meanwhile told the police that he received a call from Mr Jalali reporting the damage to his van, at which stage he “went outside and saw men in possession of weapons”. He stated that he was subsequently attacked and “described being hit, but did not recall much after that”.
Alan McGovern, of September Road, was arrested at the scene, having been “seen in possession of a weapon, which he dropped” upon the arrival of the police. He was noted to have sustained “minor injuries”, with blood on his face and clothing.
The 42-year-old thereafter “made admissions” that he had assaulted Mr Jalali “because he believed that he and another man had tried to kidnap his niece”. Under interview, he conceded that he had “stamped on him” having had his attention drawn to the unfolding incident after “hearing a noise outside” while at his mum’s home on September Road.
McGovern said that his brother then alleged that “it was the same men who had tried to kidnap his daughter the day before” and that he “went down the road” and saw his brother on the floor. He then “helped his brother restrain a man with a beard, who matched the description of the man who tried to take his niece” but “admitted kicking him in the head”.
When footage of him holding an unconscious Mr Jalali on the ground and hitting his head against the pavement was played to him, McGovern further “admitted that he had hit the male in the head on the pavement three times” and “stated he just got angry”. He added that “he was very sorry and regretted his actions”.
Neil McGovern, also of September Road, was similarly detained at the scene, having been seen in possession of a “green pole”. The 36-year-old later told detectives that a “man in a white van had attempted to abduct his daughter” the previous day and said that he had filmed video footage of this incident.
He then reported that he had “heard a commotion going on in the street by his mum’s house”, after which he witnessed Lawal “confronting a man in a van”. McGovern, who was said to have been “very emotional throughout the interview” and stated that he “regretted his actions”, said that he subsequently “went out on his scooter to see what was happening” and found “lots of people fighting in the street”, at which stage he “joined in”.
Lawal, of Lower Breck Road, was also held after being “identified as a suspect by a member of the public who indicated that he was involved”. The 46-year-old went on to give a prepared statement in interview, telling detectives that he was “working on a cement job” at a property on September Road when he was shown a video of the supposed abduction attempt and believed that “Arab males renovating a pub” on Lower Breck Road were responsible.
He added: “At that moment, the very same van drove into the road. I ran into the road, hitting the van. I feared that something very bad was going to happen. I made my way to the end of the road. My intention to stop something serious happening.
“I was smashed in the head by a large white stick, and it hurt very badly. I was assaulted by at least three males. One had a curved knife. He used it to stab me three times. The worst was on the left forearm.”
Mark McGovern, of Dorset Road in Tuebrook, later handed himself in at St Anne Street Police Station on December 9 after his “name was mentioned on social media”. The 38-year-old thereafter stated that he was “aware that his brother had made an allegation that males in a white van had tried to kidnap his children” and that, the following day, he was at home when he “became aware of a commotion at the top of the road”.
He said that he then “stepped in to assist his brothers” and “got upset at seeing his brothers being attacked and entered the fight to defend them”. While CCTV footage, captured in the vicinity of Sarpolo Pizza, showed him striking one of the complainant over the head with a wooden pole, he “remained adamant” that he “did not plan to attack anyone”.
Judge Stuart Driver KC earlier told jurors: “The prosecution say that, on a Tuesday afternoon last October, these men attacked some other men in that road in Anfield, and that each of these men had a weapon and caused injuries to the other men. The defendants agree that they were there, but say that they were not the attackers and that they were acting in reasonable self defence.”
Alan McGovern, who is represented by Ken Heckle, denies wounding with intent and unlawful wounding against Mr Azizi and possession of an offensive weapon, namely a metal pole, in a public place. He previously admitted wounding with intent against Mr Jalali.
Mark McGovern, who is defended by Desmond Lennon, has pleaded not guilty to two counts of wounding with intent, two charges of unlawful wounding and possession of an offensive weapon in a public place in relation to a wooden baton. Neil McGovern, whose counsel is Stuart Mills, denies two counts of wounding with intent, two charges of unlawful wounding and possession of a an offensive weapon, a metal pole, in a public place.
Lawal, represented by Keith Sutton, pleaded not guilty to two counts of wounding with intent, two charges of unlawful wounding and two offences of possession of an offensive weapon, namely a “metal object” and a piece of wood, in a public place.
The trial continues, and is due to last for around a week.
