Former EFL and non league footballer Patrick Lacey has been charged with attempted murder after a shooting incident in Liverpool.
The 32 year old is one of four people arrested on Thursday, February 19th and charged with attempted murder, after the shooting of a man in Merseyside in November
Each of the four men have been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to murder, possession of shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life; section 18 GBH (grievous bodily harm), and conspiracy to cause GBH.
A man in his 20s was shot in the driveway of an address on Radway Road in Huyton on Friday, the 28th of November, and was taken to hospital with serious leg injuries.
Ex-Man Utd and Liverpool youngster among four suspected of attempted murder after shootinghttps://t.co/erPcldt6Qe pic.twitter.com/JBCjhkOTt3
— Mirror Football (@MirrorFootball) February 20, 2026
POLICE STATEMENT:
We have charged four people as part of a strike day in connection with an injury shooting in Huyton in November.
Just before 10.20pm on Friday 28 November, we received a report that a man had been shot on the driveway of an address on Radway Road. A man in his 20s was taken to hospital with serious injuries to his leg.
Yesterday, Thursday 19 February, a number of warrants were carried out across Knowsley, Sefton and Liverpool and four people were arrested.
The following people have now been charged with Attempted murder; Conspiracy to murder; Possession of shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life; Section 18 GBH; and Conspiracy to cause GBH. They are:
Patrick Sean Lacey, 32, of Manor Avenue, Crosby
John Aaron Jones, 35, of Stamfordham Drive, Allerton
John George Patrick Hughes, 31, of no fixed abode
Bernard Flynn, 61, of Knowsley Road, Bootle
All four will appear at Liverpool, Knowsley, Sefton and St Helens Adult Remand Court this morning, Friday 20 February.
Detective Inspector Chris Clark from our Firearms Investigation Team said: “These coordinated warrants were carried out as part of an ongoing investigation, and all four men will appear in court today.
“Our work continues, so I would ask that people who have yet to come forward still do so. Please do not assume that we already hold information. Our team will make that assessment, and will take the appropriate action. Whether you have a first-hand account, dashcam, CCTV, doorbell or other footage, come forward.”
Please call 101 or contact us on social media @MerPolCC, quoting reference 25000975453. You can also report information via our website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/.
Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.
Lacey, who also has a 10-0 record as a boxer between 2021 and 2023 – of Manor Avenue, Crosby, spent time at Tranmere Rovers, Manchester United, Liverpool and Sheffield Wednesday as a youth player.
He also had a 12-year senior career with the likes of Bradford City, Southport, Vauxhall Motors, Droylsden, Altrincham, Barrow, Accrington Stanley, Southport, Stalybridge Celtic, Chester, Warrington Rylands 1906 and Flint Town United.
He fought as professional boxer, alongside his semi-professional football career, with his day job being a carpet fitter.
In 2017, his contract at Accrington was terminated after admitting to a breach of anti-doping regulations, and served a 14-month ban by the Football Association after tested positive for benzoylecgonine, a metabolite of cocaine, following a match against Hartlepool United the previous November.
Just a month after his contract was terminated, Lacey had been arrested at Glastonbury Festival after having the possession of 20.3 grams of cocaine, 16.8 grams of MDMA, and £520 in counterfeit £20 notes.
He pleaded guilty to two counts of possessing a controlled substance, and passing an item as genuine which he knew to be a counterfeit, served only five months of the 16-month prison sentence in July 2017, before coming out to spend the next four months ‘on tag’.
Lacey returned to football after his release from prison, taking up non league on the 14th of January 2019 when he signed for Southport on an 18-month contract.
He said in an interview, as per BBC Sport, in 2021: “I’ve been through some stuff. “It was just bad news after bad news after bad news. A mad two or three years of torment.
“That was my medicine. To be honest, it was the best thing that ever happened to me.
“I thought the judge was harsh on me. I got 14 months for the forged notes and another two months for possession of drugs at Glastonbury.
“When I went down to the court, the judge said ‘Look, I deal with people every day who have nothing going for them. You’ve got a letter here off England Boxing, you’ve got letters from football clubs to say you’re a professional footballer. You’ve got the world at your feet and you keep messing up. You’re going to have to learn a harsh lesson’.
“It gave me that thinking time when you’re sat there 23 hours a day.”
He opened up on reading Joey Barton’s book when he was in prison.
“It’s funny that I read it in prison,” admits Lacey. “The rest of the books were all old but the Joey Barton one was brand new.
“It kind of called out to me and it certainly lifted my spirits.
“When I came out everyone was saying ‘You’ve made a mistake. Get back on your football and make a fresh start’.
“That first weekend I was out, I played locally with the lads, snapped my cruciate ligament and broke and dislocated my arm.
“That was another year out just when I was trying to get going again.”
He ended up having sepsis following his ACL operation, lost three stone in weight, then endured some dark days.
“It’s paralysing. I just wanted to stay in bed and avoid my dad,” he said.
“Especially when my auntie died. My dad had just lost his sister and I had to tell him I was going to be in prison.
“You just think dark thoughts. There have been days when I don’t know what motivates me to get out of bed and carry on. But I did.
“I was banned from football for 14 months. I needed some sort of aim so I went with the boxing.
“And the ending was the start. I’d been coming through non-league, not taking my football as seriously as I should and mixing in circles I shouldn’t have.
“I didn’t safeguard myself. I’d love to go and speak to kids now in a similar position. You’ve got to refocus. You can’t let people mislead you. It’s all about growing as a person.
“It’s only really over the last year that I’ve managed to start putting things straight, with the attitude I have now. It’s been a case of keeping my head down at times, but also keeping my chin high. I’ve come through and come out the other side.
“My business is flourishing, I’ve won my first two fights and I’m playing well for Chester after coming through a second ACL op on my other knee. I certainly haven’t given up on the football. Chester have been very good to me.”
On taking up boxing: “I’m at an age where I know I’m not going to go on and earn great money but maybe I can do it with boxing. And I want to do both. They help each other.
“I’ve got fantastic stamina. But there’s a balance between doing too much and I’ve got to be careful and listen to my coaches when they say I’m starting to look a little leggy and tired in the gym.
“My love for boxing started with my dad. He boxed as a schoolboy and then he was on the books at Liverpool. He was there in that great era of that team that went and won [the European Cup] in Rome in 1984, with Kenny Dalglish, Ian Rush, Alan Hansen, Graeme Souness and the like.
“He played for Liverpool until he was 17 then, when he got released, he started boxing again. And I used to go down the gym with him to keep fit.
“We were always watching boxing when we were kids. Let’s face it, football and fighting are the two biggest sports in Liverpool.
“I always wanted to box but when I was going round the likes of Manchester United, Blackburn and Liverpool, they all said to me ‘there’s no need to take punches in the face if you don’t have to’.
“I got back into it when I had a charity fight with a school teacher when I was 21 or 22. My dad came to watch and he said ‘son, you’ve got some natural ability’.
“I then started bowling over a load of amateurs, and getting a bit of a reputation in Liverpool that I might be a decent little fighter. And now I just want to embrace it as long as I can.
“I feel like I’ve developed so much, as a boxer and as a person. I feel really happy at the way I’ve come on.
“I’m hoping in 2022 that I could be knocking on the door for a central area title. And then let’s see what happens.
“Carl Froch was in his 30s before he hit his best years, don’t forget. You peak a little later in boxing.”
