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The former Liverpool and England defender helped catch Andrew Mulhearn, who spent weeks peering through the windows of two women’s home
Former Liverpool player Stephen Warnock
Former Liverpool player Stephen Warnock(Image: Andrew Teebay Liverpool Echo)
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Former Liverpool star Stephen Warnock played a key role in helping police catch a man who had spent weeks peering through the windows of two women’s home. The 44-year-old former defender, now a pundit, lay in wait for Andrew Mulhearn after he was repeatedly captured on the women's Ring doorbell approaching their front door.
Warnock, originally from Ormskirk, staked out the house with his fiancée, who is the sister of one of the victims, parking nearby at times Mulhearn was known to show up. When Mulhearn arrived and noticed he might be seen, he fled. Warnock followed him for around 40 minutes through south Liverpool until police, responding to a 999 call, arrived and made the arrest.
Mulhearn, 30, of Pitville Avenue in Mossley Hill - the same street as the victims - was sentenced to 12 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, after he admitted two counts of harassment without violence over a number of weeks last summer.
Speaking to the ECHO, Warnock said they decided to investigate Mulhearn to "build a better case" for the police. Mulhearn's harassment of the women, whom the ECHO has chosen not to name, began in July 2025.
The women noticed a figure repeatedly approaching the front of their house on their Ring doorbell and at first believed it was a burglar scoping the place out. But when they looked into it further, the disturbing footage showed the man arriving at the same time each night and staring through the front window.
The women spoke to the police, who asked them to upload the footage and call 999 next time. But Warnock told the ECHO he thought he should go and wait outside the house, "not necessarily to confront him, but at that stage we literally knew nothing about him".
One night, the England international waited an hour-and-a-half for Mulhearn to turn up. But after noticing a new camera in the front window of the house, Mulhearn quickly turned away.
Wanting to know where he lived, Warnock got out of the car and began to follow, dressed in a hoodie, shorts and cap to try and avoid attention. However, Warnock didn't know the area well and lost him when Mulhearn picked up the pace.
Warnock noticed a car that had also been following Mulhearn and went over to speak to the driver. It turned out he was the brother who owned the house where Mulhearn's victims lived.
Then an unmarked police car, responding to Warnock's fiancée's call, arrived and grabbed Mulhearn. Warnock was able to ID him.
Mulhearn was arrested, interviewed and eventually charged. However, he initially denied any offence, maintaining that he had only been looking through the front window to see if anyone was home so he could use the toilet.
But Mulhearn formally pleaded guilty on Tuesday, April 14 at Liverpool Magistrates' Court. He was sentenced on the same day, with the district judge scathing in his comments. Mulhearn was also given 25 rehabilitation days and 200 hours of unpaid work. But most importantly for the victims, he was also handed a five-year restraining order.