The assault charge against Steven Gerrard was dropped during his court date this morning, meaning that he now faces only the comparatively minor charge of affray in connection with the DJ-bashing for which he is so widely and properly celebrated. I hadn’t paid much attention to the affray charge, partly because it seemed like a bit of insignificant punctuation added to the end of the assault charge (“assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray”), and partly because I don’t really know what the word means, except that it presumably has some connection to “fray,” into one of which Steven Gerrard, numerous announcers have told me, is never behindhand in charging, so it also just seemed descriptive, as if you’d said, “Peter Crouch has been charged with diabolical computer hacking with the intent to take over the CIA and atallness.”
Now, however, I’ve been doing some concentrated research in the hope of answering the question, “How is it possible to affray a beer mug into someone’s face?”, and my findings are quite intriguing. According to the Public Order Act 1986 s.3, and also Wikipedia, a person is guilty of affray if
a person uses or threatens unlawful violence towards another and the person’s conduct is such as would cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety.
So apparently you’re not guilty of affray if the unlawful violence you’re using or threatening toward another would not cause a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene to fear for his personal safety, in which case, between the two of us, you may be a bit pathetic. So one very important question here is whether Marcus McGee, the DJ who lost a tooth and suffered facial injuries in the fist-(and mug!-)icuffs, possessed reasonable firmness, or whether he was the sort of pink-livered Barbie boy who fears for his personal safety just because a group of six or seven professional athletes are on the point of causing his hospitalization. The case will be tried in a Liverpool court, after all.
An older definition of affray, found in English and Welsh Common Law, holds that it is consisted of
the fighting of two or more persons in a public place to the terror (in French: à l’effroi) of the lieges.
So maybe that’s Gerrard’s real crime here. It isn’t that he beat up a DJ, it’s that he startled the Queen. She’d probably settled in for her typical Saturday night of snacking on Junior Mints and flipping through the police network of thousands upon thousands of CCTV surveillance channels, poor thing, when bam, there was her favorite footballer this side of Dennis Bergkamp, whaling on a DJ in a public place. Whereupon the bone-china Minting dish shattered into a thousand pieces as it fell to the floor from her trembling, l’effroi-stricken hands.
In any case, Gerrard’s next court date will occur when he and the six other defendants have a plea and case management hearing at Liverpool Crown Court on April 3.
Read More: Annals of Crime, Liverpool, Steven Gerrard
by Brian Phillips · March 20, 2009
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Once again, a different set of laws for “them”.
Well…in all seriousness, we don’t really know what happened. So we can’t really say whether justice is being done, though there’s of course a good chance that it isn’t.
I think that affray is British legalese for “assault.’ Assault is a US crime for threatening someone and actually being capable of doing it. For example.
I see Gerrard in a bar, smash a glass, and say “learn how to pass in possession or I will cut you.” To which Gerrard replies unintelligible Liverpoolian English “something something.’
That would be assault or in the UK “affray.”
Battery is the criminal offense for actually touching. For example, and I know its a stretch, but imagine that Fabregas or Samuel E’too spits at a rival.
That is technically a criminal offense, battery, but rarely prosecuted.
Instead, minnow coaches (minnoaches) cry at press conferences, basking in the cameras’ warm glow before descending to the coca cola championship dungeon come May.
Usually in the states, prosecutors charge assault and battery, but accept an assault plea, dismiss battery, and put a first timer on probation.
Watch the posse take the fall, while the “name” walks. Happens every time. Just ask that poor Pakistani student in Leeds that Bowyer and what-his-name stomped a few years back. or Barton. Or Bowyer, again, many times after that. Etc, etc. Btw, whatever *did* happen with Pretty Ronaldo’s tunnel mishap? Anything? Anything at all? Then, in all those incidences, many for repeat offenses, imagine if it had been you. Without a barge load of money. And fame. Different story, eh?
Not to get too far off topic but I beleive as a result of the Pretty Ronaldo’s crash the FA or the Premier League or someone hired a professional driving instructor to teach players how to properly drive overpowered Italian sports cars.
mental picture of Peter Crouch hacking the CIA = Coolness times eternity.
Thank you so very much, that made my day.
To KingSnake (Where did that come from?)Don’t knock Steven Gerrard for having the money to take on good lawyers, you’d do exactly the same if you were in the same position and had the funds. If you want to point a finger, point it at a system that requires you to have money to see justice done. You are already assuming that Gerrard is guilty, probably because he’s rich, famous and a great player. Presumably you are none of these. I doubt if you were there. Deal with the envy mate!
In the areas of law and medicine, there is always that tension between providing services to everyone, but having varying degrees of talent and quality. Surely no one advocates justice for none, but justice for all, and of the same quality and talent, would be a hefty price tag paid by whom?
Steven is the key player in his club Liverpool FC and should be given the chance to concentrate on his football.
He needs not to be worried at all with
his court case.I like Gerrad so much on
the pitch.
Why don’t you just forget about it.
the charges were dropped, he needs to get on with his career/life so do we. he is a good football player and we should support him.
We don’t even know what actually happened, unless you where there, so just forget about it.
The only reason he was charged was in the first place the DJ didn’t like football players getting away with things like no mans land, when in fact they don’t they are treated the exact same.
What a lot of ignorant and uneducated comments posted here. “I think this… I think it means that … Gerrard is a good bloke so forget it”.
And AFFRAY is not a new “Americanised” term … it’s a Crown Court offence and if you wish to say something here at least reduce your lower IQ appearance and look it up in a dictionary!
Gerrard was seen and recorded on video commiting a crime, he’s a twat, a thug, nothing more (unless you include being yet another overpaid has-been footballer). His legal advisers have said “Best say you were in control of yourself, and not totally drunk” – Oh dear! That gets rid of the legal defence of being of being so drunk you were unaware of what was happening at the time. Clearly he was fully aware of what was going on and responsible for his actions.
He therefore has only one option to try and weasle his way out of it, his advisers tell him “Oh, try the other possible defence in law by alleging in court you thought the other person was going to hit you and you thought the only way to stop that was to strike first”.
Well, watch the CCTV footage, I think that fabricated excuse is out of the window as well! I know many people will disagree with me, after all Gerrard was obviously facing a dangerous man, and he only had five people to help him in the attack, which is a mark of his true character and outstanding courage (Not).
Send the ba****d down.
Just everyone please notice that I predicted in March that we’d see a CCTV video of this.
So Gerrard walks free and the rest are found guilty?!
Money talks.
The rest pleaded guilty. They weren’t found anything.
I wouldn’t call this a miscarriage of justice, just a premature birth of injustice
Who does Mr Allan West think he is? Mr Arrogant West more like. To quote him ‘a lot of ignorant and uneducated comments’ then he rattles on and on and on and on about points of law (Yawn Yawn). By now we’re thinking Gosh what a high IQ person (NOT) because then he shows his lack of real command of the English language by using the term ‘twat’. Mr Arrogant West has struggled for words her, I think. He sounds like the thug to me, a bitter one too!
Lost all respect for this great footballer..maybe he was provoked or maybe he was felling tough with his entourage there to back (or front) him up. A fight over a f****ng boombox? over who gets to play the music?!! WHY?! go home and use your own stereo. self-entitled piece of sh**. his cousin must be very very proud, no? someone please knife his legs up, bc he deserves it. COME ON CALUM!!
Is Save the DJs a charity?
Oh, and don’t you just love football sometimes?
I sort of want to put this comment thread on a plaque and hang it over my desk.
I couldn’t find a SavetheDJs charity anywhere with google, yahoo, or hotbot. Perhaps altavista is hiding it near the backpage….