By IANS,
London : The Liverpool and England midfielder Steven Gerrard
was charged Tuesday with assault occasioning actual bodily harm and affray
following an incident at a Southport bar which left a man needing hospital
treatment for facial injuries.
Gerrard, one of six men arrested following the incident, was charged with
two other men after being held by the police for nearly 24 hours following
his arrest at the Lounge Inn, a venue in a quiet part of the Merseyside
town.
He was released in the early hours of Tuesday morning.
A high-powered sports car – owned, it is thought, by the player – was still
parked outside the bar.
Inside the bar and restaurant, it was easy for onlookers to make out the
mess. On a table near the window were smashed drinks glasses. Drops of blood
could be seen under a bar stool – evidence, perhaps, for the four
Merseyside detectives who turned up later.
Quite what happened, to whom and how, was still unclear, but by the early
hours of this morning, Gerrard was still in police custody after a night out
to celebrate his team’s comprehensive defeat of Newcastle United Sunday.
The alleged victim was the club’s 34-year-old DJ. The Lounge Inn is a
favoured nightspot for celebrities in the genteel seaside town.
One report suggested Gerrard and a group of his friends were involved in an
altercation after the man refused to allow them to choose the songs played
on the venue’s sound system. Gerrard is a big fan of Phil Collins and counts
the singer’s greatest hits as his favourite album.
Neither the police nor Liverpool were prepared to give any details of the
fracas that led to a man being taken to hospital for treatment for cuts to
his face. It was also reported that the injured man had lost a tooth, but he
has been released from hospital.
The timing of the incident could not come at a worse time for Liverpool. The
club has a real chance of winning the Premier League – it hasn’t claimed the
title in 19 years. On Sunday Gerrard was the club’s star player in a 5-1
thrashing of Newcastle, scoring twice.