'Threatening to shoot him in the legs' - How Steven Gerrard overcame his early-career gangster terror

In March 2006, John Kinsella, James Muldoon, Stephen McMullen and Thomas Hodgson were arrested on the M62 motorway near Huddersfield after a 130mph police chase. The four men - all from Liverpool - stood accused of stealing £41,000 worth of goods (Easter eggs, crisps and detergents) from a lorry depot in Grantham, Lincolnshire.

Hodgson subsequently admitted to a charge of robbery, but Kinsella, Muldoon and McMullen all maintained their innocence when they went on trial at Lincoln Crown Court in April 2008. Kinsella, who also denied an additional charge of dangerous driving, insisted that he was not a member of the gang responsible for the heist, with his solicitor, Gorden Aspden, claiming that his client had been "hoodwinked" into getting involved.

Kinsella stated that he knew nothing of the planned robbery beforehand and believed that he had been invited along to deal with a debt owed by a friend of his fellow accused Hodgson. According to Aspden, there was "a lot of evidence to back up” Kinsella’s story, while his defence also included a character reference from Steven Gerrard's father, Paul.

In a letter submitted to the court, and verified by police, Paul Gerrard wrote: "I would like to say that in 2001 my son Steven was being terrorised by a notorious Liverpool gangster known as 'The Psycho' (George Bromley Junior), who was threatening to maim my son by shooting him in the legs. Also, he was trying to extort a large amount of money from Steven. We immediately contacted the police and asked for protection."

The letter also disclosed that Liverpool were in contact with the authorities during the period in question and had also provided extra security for their player. However, Paul Gerrard said that the threats and harassment "went on for a long time" and that his son had even been "chased" by the gangster as he drove home from training.

"It was really having a bad effect on Steven's career," Paul Gerrard confessed, while also revealing that his son's car had been "smashed up" at one point. "This was one of the worst times of our lives and we were at our wits’ end when we were introduced by a family friend to John Kinsella."

Kinsella was well-known within the Merseyside underworld, and had previously served a nine-year prison sentence for attempted robbery and carrying a firearm with intent to commit an offence. According to Paul Gerrard, after reaching out to Kinsella, the martial arts expert assured him and his family that he "would resolve our nightmare".

During his trial in 2008, Kinsella explained that he was already familiar with both Bromley Junior and his deceased father, George Bromley Senior.

"George Bromley Jnr was a young lad," Kinsella told the court. "but he was a very violent figure in Liverpool. I took steps. I spoke to George Bromley Jnr. I told him to stop it and leave [Steven Gerrard] alone. After I had spoken to him, he followed my advice."

Indeed, Paul Gerrard confirmed in his letter that his family "never had any more problems from the Liverpool underworld", adding, "Steven and I have total respect for John."

Despite Paul Gerrard's testimony, Kinsella was found guilty of the robbery and sentenced to 14 years in jail - though he wasn't in court for the verdict. Rather, during a lunch break at the trial on April 17, 2008, Kinsella absconded after being allowed to wander Lincoln Crown Court's grounds.

Kinsella's legal team audaciously challenged the length of his sentence while he was still on the run - and actually managed to have it reduced by three years. Lord Justice Moses called the whole affair "curious business" but appeal judges accepted that the original jail term was "manifestly excessive".

However, Kinsella was eventually arrested by armed police in Amsterdam in February 2009 and he belatedly began his prison sentence two months later.

He died on May 5, 2018, after being shot in front of his partner while out walking his dog on a secluded footpath in a wooded area that runs alongside the M62 on Merseyside.

As for Bromley Junior, he was arrested in 2005 and sentenced to 10 years in jail for leading a brutal attack on a man he believed had double-crossed him. The court heard that Bromley Junior and two accomplices broke the leg of the victim with a mallet, and also burned him with a hot iron, for allegedly using the heroin he had been tasked with selling in Cumbria.  

Just weeks before his expected release in 2013, Bromley Junior "absconded" from the Category D open prison HMP Kirkham in Lancashire. According to prosecutor Richard Archer, Bromley Junior walked out of the facility, commandeered a car near the A58 and drove off.

"His escape had not gone unnoticed and officers gave chase," Archer explained. "The defendant drove at speed and went through red traffic lights, sometimes moving on to the opposite side of the carriageway."

After stopping at one set of lights, Bromley Junior tried to switch vehicles, but it was at that point he was apprehended by police and prison staff at the Dobbies garden centre. Bromley Junior later claimed that he had fled the prison because he was being bullied by other inmates. Nonetheless, he was sentenced to an additional 170 days behind bars after pleading guilty to escaping from lawful custody, taking a vehicle without consent and driving without insurance. 

Gerrard, meanwhile, went from strength to strength after Kinsella convinced Bromley Junior to leave him in peace. He led Liverpool to Champions League glory in 2005 and ended up making 710 appearances for his hometown club in all competitions before leaving for LA Galaxy in the summer of 2015.

Gerrard, who also earned 114 for caps for England, has since moved into management, although he is presently out of work after parting company with Saudi Pro League side Al-Ettifaq earlier this year. 

He's never spoken publicly about being 'terrorised' by Bromley - or even mentioned it in his two autobiographies, which is somewhat surprising, given Gerrard has been so open about dealing with depression rooted in incessant injury issues, and the ongoing pain he feels over the loss of his cousin Paul Gilhooley, who died at Hillsborough.

As his father's letter underlined, though, 2001 was the most terrifying period of Gerrard's life, and some things are better left behind.