The daughter of Steven Gerrard is expecting her first baby with the son of one of Ireland’s most notorious gangsters.
Influencer Lilly-Ella Gerard shared a picture of scans with her 216,000 Instagram followers before her legendary father replied: “We can’t wait. Great news and congratulations we love you.”
The 20-year-old tagged her boyfriend, Lee Byrne, whose own loved ones have endured a turbulent few years, despite himself and the Gerrard family having no involvement in crime.
His father meanwhile, Liam Byrne, is currently behind bars in the UK after being handed five-and-a-half years for a plot to stockpile machine guns.
Violent life of Lilly-Ella Gerrard boyfriend’s gangster dad who battered sports star
Liam Byrne will be in prison for the birth of his grandchild
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Image:
Irish Mirror)
Lee Byrne and Lilly-Ella Gerrard, who have no involvement in crime, are expecting their first child
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Image:
Steven McAuley <steven.mcauley@reachplc.com>)
The Kinahan cartel
Byrne was previously described in the High Court as being a “trusted lieutenant of Daniel Kinahan and the Kinahan Organised Crime Group”.
The chilling Kinahan cartel was founded by convicted drug smuggler Christy ‘Dapper Don’ Kinahan. His son, Daniel Kinahan, now heads up the gang and he has a £12million bounty on his head.
Before the authorities named him as a most wanted man, he had a much more public presence, and worked as a boxing manager with MGM (later changed to MTK) where he advised stars like Tyson Fury and Darren Till.
He got into combat sports with his friend and former fighter Matthew Macklin – but drugs and arms-dealing were reportedly his main source of income. Kinahan has also been linked to a Dubai ‘super cartel’.
His gang became notorious all over the world in February 2016 when the murder of Lee Byrne’s uncle, David Byrne, sparked a grim feud where 18 people lost their lives.
David Byrne murder
The previously mentioned Christy Kinahan used to have close ties with the Hutch gang, led by Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch.
But relationships eventually soured between the gangs and the most shocking incident in their subsequent war was the killing of David.
It happened inside the Regency Hotel in February 2016 at a boxing weigh-in where some of Daniel Kinahan’s MTK fighters were preparing.
But as one boxer stepped up to the scales, four men, two who were dressed as police, stormed the hotel armed with AK-47s.
The scene after the shocking murder at the Regency Hotel
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Image:
Rolling News <photographer@rollingnews.ie>)
Moments before gunmen stormed the room
Children were present and their harrowing screams were caught on camera as the assassins reportedly hunted down Daniel Kinahan, who was present but managed to escape unharmed.
But associate David was shot dead as horrified civilians scattered out of the building.
What happened next?
The underworld assassination happening so publicly shocked the nation – and it led to all-out war on the streets of Dublin.
Three days later, Eddie, the brother of Gerry ‘The Monk’ Hutch, was murdered at his home in the capital in a suspected revenge hit.
The slayings did not stop there – and in total 18 people were killed at various stages, including ten happening in 2016 alone. Three people were killed in mistaken identity cases – while four Hutch family members lost their lives.
Chaos erupted when guns were fired at the weigh-in, resulting in David Byrne’s death
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Image:
Daily Record)
‘The Monk’ was arrested for Byrne’s murder in 2021 – but he was eventually acquitted and walked free.
Kinahan meanwhile, whose family has an estimated $1billion empire, was named by the US government in 2022 when they offered a reward for information that led to the arrest or conviction of key members of the gang.
They said they wanted the group to face justice for the smuggling of “deadly narcotics, including cocaine, to Europe”.
Matt Horne, from Britain’s NCA, added: “They thought they were untouchable, but we will explore every opportunity to disrupt their criminal activities. We will not stop here.”
As it stands today, Kinahan remains a free man.