Liam Redmond snr, Liam Redmond jnr and Luke Redmond admitted affray after a violent brawl erupted at Prenton Golf Club following a funeral. The father had previously turned violent at another wake just three years earlier.
Violent brawl at wake
The trio hurled pint glasses and gouged the eyes of mourners during the incident on October 17 2024. A lorry driver, William Donaldson, was left with permanent scarring and needed nine stitches to a severe facial injury after the wake "descended into something akin to a bar room brawl."
Liverpool Crown Court heard that the Redmonds, all of Holm Lane in Prenton, Wirral, attended the wake after a funeral. Their relationship to the deceased remains unclear, but witnesses said they were unfamiliar and "some of whom thought that the defendants were inappropriately dressed."
Events at the golf club
Prosecutor Henry Riding outlined how the wake was scheduled to finish at 7pm, with manager Kate Verdin-Walsh calling last orders shortly before 6.45pm. She recalled the "atmosphere was good" until staff alerted her to shouting in the bar area.
Ms Verdin-Walsh discovered "12 to 15 persons in a circle, appearing to act as a buffer between two males who were arguing and shouting." Liam Redmond snr was one of these men, shouting at another individual who "tried to back away." After she managed to calm him down, the father and his sons were escorted from the premises.
Fight breaks out
Redmond snr then dragged another man to the ground close to the exit, triggering a "large scale fight." This was sparked when Redmond snr's daughter moved to follow her brothers out, and the man pulled to the floor put his arm around her back, seemingly unaware of her connection to those asked to leave.
During the fighting, one of the sons hurled a pint glass into the crowd, striking Ms Verdin-Walsh on the head, causing a small lump and requiring hospital treatment. Witness Ronald Hancox saw Redmond snr "pressing his thumb inside the eye of another male" and intervened. Carl Hancox witnessed the father striking a man called Billy before forcing his thumbs into his eyes, then turned on him, punching and kicking him to the head while on the ground.
Victim's injuries
William Donaldson, the uncle of the man initially brought to the ground, ran into the fight to protect his nephew. He saw a glass thrown but ended up on the floor, being struck multiple times by one of the younger males who attempted to gouge out his eyes. Mr Donaldson sustained a "split" nose, believed caused by a glass bottle, and had the wound closed with nine stitches at hospital the next day.
The HGV driver also had to take a fortnight off work due to glass fragments in his eye. In a statement read to the court, he said: "I don't really go out much any more so that I don't have to explain it to people. I no longer pop down to the pub. I get nervous about strange places and people. I was always easy going and could chat to anyone. I always enjoyed a laugh and socialising, but not any more."
Background and sentencing
Liam Redmond snr has 16 previous convictions for 24 offences, including a nine-month sentence for attempted wounding in 1990 and a 12-month community order in May 2022 for affray connected to a fight at a wake in 2021. His defence lawyer Lloyd Morgan said he suffers from emphysema and receives Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment.
Liam Redmond jnr, 25, and Luke Redmond, 23, have no prior convictions. Nick Cockrell for the former said it was an isolated incident committed when he was in drink, noting he is a self-employed plasterer. Luke Redmond's barrister Cheryl Mottram said he was "very remorseful" and had not reoffended since.
All three admitted affray on the day they were due to stand trial. Judge Garrett Byrne sentenced Liam Redmond snr to nine months' imprisonment suspended for 18 months, with a rehabilitation activity requirement of up to 10 days and a 90-day alcohol abstinence monitoring requirement. Liam Redmond jnr and Luke Redmond each received 12-month community orders with 15-day rehabilitation activity requirements and 80 hours of unpaid work. The trio were also ordered to pay £250 each in compensation to Mr Donaldson.
Judge Byrne said: "This was, on any view, an entirely disgraceful event. All three of you should be ashamed of yourselves. What was supposed to be a solemn and respectful event descended into something akin to a bar room brawl." He noted the father's prior conviction "bore a striking similarity" as it was another wake where he was intoxicated, but accepted none had reoffended since and showed genuine remorse.
