Published: 17:22, 20 February 2026 | Updated: 17:22, 20 February 2026

Former Manchester United and Liverpool academy player Patrick Lacey is among four people to have been charged with attempted murder.

Lacey, 32, who spent much of his professional career in the lower leagues of English football, was charged after a man in his 20s was shot in the leg on November 28.

Police were called to reports of the shooting, which occurred on the driveway of an address on Radway Road in Huyton. The victim was rushed to hospital with serious injuries.

Merseyside Police carried out sweeping warrants across Knowsley, Sefton and Liverpool on Thursday, with former Accrington Stanley and Barrow midfielder Lacey among those arrested.

The 32-year-old was also charged with conspiracy to murder; possession of shotgun and ammunition with intent to endanger life, section 18 GBH, and conspiracy to cause GBH.

John Aaron Jones, 35, of Stamfordham Drive, Allerton, John George Patrick Hughes, 31, of no fixed abode, and Bernard Flynn, 61, of Knowsley Road, Bootle, have been charged with the same offences.

 Patrick Lacey...