Brothers laugh as they are jailed along with 15-year-old boy for killing security guard in street attack after asking him if he ‘wanted to see a knockout punch’
- Jay and Joseph Byrne laughed as they were jailed for killing Christopher Molloy
- The brothers, along with a then-14-year-old boy, attacked him in July, last year
- READ MORE: After they were found guilty the teen tried to storm the dock
Two brothers were seen laughing in court as they were jailed along with a 15-year-old boy for their part in a vicious attack that killed a security guard.
Jay Byrne, Joseph Byrne and the unnamed teen beat Christopher Molloy to death in an early hours ‘gang attack’ in the Bootle area of Merseyside last July.
The 55-year-old had been accused of ‘touching’ the boy’s girlfriend, before being chased by the Byrnes and their co-defendant through the Strand Shopping Centre.
The court heard that Joseph had told the victim ‘do you want to see a knockout punch?’ before hitting him unconscious, while the teen later returned while he was still out cold and kicked him in the head.
At their trial in January, a jury found the brothers guilty of manslaughter and the teen guilty of murder, sparking an outburst from the boy where he tried to storm out of the dock.
Brothers Jay Byrne (left) and Jospeh Byrne (right) laughed in court today as they were sentenced for manslaughter
The brothers, along with a 15-year-old boy, attacked security guard Christopher Molloy (pictured) in Bootle in July last year
Today the trio returned to Liverpool Crown Court where they faced lengthy prison sentences for the attack, although like last time the hearing was disrupted by the behaviour of the defendants.
Judge Neil Flewitt threatened to throw the Byrne brothers out of court after they were seen laughing and grinning during his sentencing remarks.
He said: ‘The pair of them are finding this amusing. I am not finding it amusing.’
This sparked a foul-mouthed rant from Joseph Byrne, who said ‘He is chatting s**the, he’s just chatting s**t. He knows he’s chatting s**t’, the Liverpool Echo reports.
The judge jailed him for nine years and nine months, plus an extended licence of four years, for the manslaughter of Mr Molloy.
He also jailed him for 18 months for grievous bodily harm and 27 months for actual bodily harm against two other people, which will be served consecutively.
Jay Byrne was jailed for 10-and-a-half years for Mr Molloy’s manslaughter, with the 26-year-old shouting at the judge as he was escorted from the dock, the publication reports.
Jailing the teen for life with a minimum term of eight years, Judge Flewitt said: ‘I accept that he didn’t intend to kill Christopher Molloy, involvement was not pre-meditated in the sense the assault was not planned in advance.
‘I also accept that the youth was under some pressure from his peers and the adults present to show that he could stand up for and protect his girlfriend.
‘I understand he has expressed remorse to the probation service.
‘I accept that is what he has said but I regret to say I did not see any indication of it during the trial, but I accept that may be because of his age and the lack of understanding of his actions.’
A jury found the brothers guilty of manslaughter and the teen guilty of murder for the attack near a Burger King (pictured)
Jurors previously heard an initial altercation between the parties erupted near to Burger King close to the Bootle Strand shopping centre at around 12.45am on July 12 last year after Mr Molloy was accused of ‘touching’ the teenage defendant’s girlfriend.
Jay Byrne – of Leyland Road in Southport – was said to have either punched or pushed the stranger, who then fled to the McDonald’s opposite and sought assistance from staff ‘because he was concerned as to what was happening, trying to get help’.
The victim remained in the doorway of the fast food branch for several minutes before walking away, at which point he was chased by Joseph Byrne – of Litherland, Merseyside – and the then-14-year-old.
A second confrontation near to the junction of Stanley Road and Strand Road was captured on CCTV footage which was played to the court.
READ MORE HERE: Boy, 15, yells ‘you fat ugly p****’ at judge and tries to storm out of the dock as jury find him guilty of murder
It showed the younger Byrne ‘landing an extremely forceful punch’ with his right hand, knocking Mr Molloy to the floor.
He fell backwards and is said to have cracked his head on the pavement, rendering him unconscious.
The juvenile was then seen repeatedly slapping him in the face, a total of eight times, as he lay helpless on the floor.
As both attackers walked away, they were caught on camera fist bumping.
The boy returned shortly afterwards alongside 26-year-old Jay Byrne, who kicked a still unconscious Mr Molloy to the head. The youth then delivered a second ‘particularly ferocious’ kick to the head, described compared to ‘kicking a football hard’.
In the aftermath of the callous attack, a patrolling police car was flagged down by a taxi driver who reported there was a man lying unconscious in the road.
Another member of the public had alerted the attentions of a passing ambulance, and it became ‘immediately obvious that Mr Molloy was extremely unwell’, the court heard.
He had a host of cuts, bruising and swelling to his face and head and began vomiting once placed in the back of the ambulance.
After being rushed to the Walton Centre, he underwent emergency surgery shortly before 5am.
But Mr Molloy had suffered internal bleeding and fractures, and his life support was ultimately withdrawn. He died on July 19 2022, a week after the assault.
Joseph Byrne said on the stand that he had given Mr Molloy ‘a little slap to teach him a lesson’ after he was told that he had been ‘grabbing the a***’ of the teen’s girlfriend.
But he appeared to become angry with the youngster while under cross-examination – at one point turning to him and saying ‘he done it and he knows he did’ – before refusing to answer any further questions from the prosecution.
Jay Byrne did not give evidence to the trial, but the boy said from the witness box that he had been imitating a scene from 1995 comedy film Friday – namely when the character played by Chris Tucker shouts ‘you got knocked the f*** out’.
He also alleged that Joseph Byrne had asked ‘do you want to see a knockout punch?’ before rendering Mr Molloy unconscious.
Of the moment he kicked him on the floor, the teen said: ‘I didn’t think. I was just copying what Jay did.’
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