Lilly-Ella Gerrard, daughter of Liverpool legend Steven Gerrard, has announced the birth of her first child with partner Lee Byrne. Sharing a black-and-white image on Instagram, she captioned it: "@Leebyrne 2 becomes 3" alongside a pink heart and baby emoji. The couple had revealed the pregnancy in January.
While Lilly-Ella comes from a celebrated football family, Lee is the son of Liam Byrne, a notorious gangster linked to the Kinahan organised crime group. Byrne was released from prison in January after plotting to stockpile machine guns. Lee and the Gerrard family have no involvement in criminality.
Liam Byrne, known as 'Bugsy', began his criminal career as a teenager, dealing drugs for Christy Kinahan Snr. In 1998, aged 17, he committed armed robberies with an under-16s soccer captain. He received a suspended sentence in 2000 for firearms and burglary but soon violated it with a vicious assault on ex-footballer Trevor Donnelly.
Byrne attacked Donnelly with a baseball bat outside a fast food shop, warning his partner: "Tell him if he wakes up, it's bullets." The victim later said Byrne had "ruined" his life. Despite intimidating witnesses, Byrne was jailed for six years after his suspended sentence was activated and additional time added.
During the trial, Byrne offered the victim's partner €50,000 not to testify and threatened her life. She persisted despite having to leave her home after shots were fired and a plot by the INLA to murder her. After giving evidence, she was assaulted in court corridors. Byrne's time in prison did not reform him.
