Lilly-Ella Gerrard Celebrates as Mobster’s Dad Dodges Lengthy Jail Term
Steven Gerrard’s daughter, Lilly-Ella, publicly celebrated after her boyfriend’s father, infamous mobster Liam Byrne, narrowly avoided a lengthy prison sentence following his guilty plea to firearm charges.
Liam Byrne, associated with the Kinahan cartel, faced the Old Bailey and was sentenced to five years in prison last week. His son, Lee Byrne, who remains uninvolved in criminal activities, expressed relief after the sentencing, writing online, “get in there” and adding, “I love you da. See you soon.” Lilly-Ella shared her support on Instagram, saying, “So happy for my Lee, love you so, so much always.” With a significant following of over 205,000, Lilly-Ella frequently shares her life in the Middle East, where her father manages the Al-Ettifaq football team in Saudi Arabia, according to the Daily Sar.
The pair, who have been together since October 2022, often share glimpses of their relationship, including holidays to Ibiza and heartfelt tributes. Lee has called Lilly-Ella “the best person he’s ever met,” and in January, Lilly-Ella posted a photo of them together captioned, “Best friend. Happy New Year.” Steven Gerrard, legendary Liverpool player, also has a friendly rapport with Lee, having previously wished him “Happy Birthday” on social media.
While Gerrard, his daughter, and her boyfriend remain distant from the criminal activities surrounding Liam Byrne, the same cannot be said for Byrne himself. At 43, Liam is known as a prominent figure in Irish organized crime. He is the reputed leader of the “Byrne Organised Crime Group,” described in the High Court as a “trusted lieutenant” in the Kinahan cartel. This group, founded by Christy Kinahan and now led by his son, Daniel, has long dominated the Dublin underworld.
The Byrne family’s connection to crime runs deep. In February 2016, Liam’s brother, David Byrne, was murdered in a notorious gangland shooting at Dublin’s Regency Hotel, igniting the violent Hutch-Kinahan feud that has since claimed 18 lives. Liam, who moved to the UK and is a convicted armed robber, was arrested in June last year by Spanish police on a UK extradition warrant after a National Crime Agency investigation.
In court, Liam Byrne and his brother-in-law, Thomas “Bomber” Kavanagh, who is serving a 21-year sentence for drug smuggling, pleaded guilty to firearm charges after a scheme to shorten their prison terms went awry. They had planned to stockpile weapons and then tip off authorities, hoping this cooperation would result in lighter sentences. However, the plan was foiled by law enforcement, who intercepted encrypted communications. The weapons cache included handguns, machine guns, and rifles.
National Crime Agency (NCA) Branch Commander Ty Surgeon remarked, “At the instruction of their leader Thomas Kavanagh, Shaun Kent and Liam Byrne orchestrated a cynical and dangerous plot to plant a cache of weapons so Kavanagh could direct the NCA to them and reduce his time in prison. The NCA’s mission is to protect the public from serious and organised crime…we will pursue every avenue…to ensure criminals are brought to justice.”