Ex-Liverpool star helps police catch creep who harassed fiancee’s sister’s dwelling

A former Liverpool star helped police apprehend a convicted harasser who had spent weeks spying through the windows of two women’s homes

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Former England international and ex-Liverpool star Stephen Warnock assisted police in capturing a man who had been peeping through the windows of two women’s home for weeks by lying in wait for him.

The 44-year-old former defender-turned-pundit kept watch for Andrew Mulhearn after he was repeatedly caught on the women’s Ring doorbell approaching their front door. Warnock, hailing from Ormskirk, Lancashire, surveilled the property alongside his fiancée, the sister of one of the victims, parking nearby at times when Mulhearn was anticipated to show up.

When Mulhearn arrived and realised he might be seen, he bolted. Warnock pursued for roughly 40 minutes, tailing the harasser until police, alerted by a 999 call, were able to apprehend him.

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The Liverpool Echo reports that Mulhearn, 30, a resident of the same street as his victims in Mossley Hill, Liverpool, received a 12-week prison sentence, suspended for 12 months, after pleading guilty to two counts of harassment without violence over several weeks last summer.

Warnock revealed to the ECHO that his motivation was personal. He stated: “I’ve got two daughters myself, and it is just unfair to allow people to walk around with that power. To have young girls absolutely petrified to walk out of their own home or to even be in their own home is wrong…it is not a nice feeling, and I think the main reason we decided to go to the house was to stop it.

“The police don’t have the time and resources to be able to do it. So that was why we said, ‘Right, let’s go and find out who he is and where he lives’, and at least then we could take it to the police, and so they could build a better case. I think it’s a horrible thing for women to go through.”

Mulhearn’s harassment of the women started in July 2025 when his victims spotted a figure repeatedly turning up at the front of their home via their Ring doorbell camera, initially thinking it was a burglar surveying the property.

However, upon closer examination, the disturbing footage showed the man arriving at the same time every night and looking through the front window.

After contacting police, the women were told to upload the footage and call 999 should he return. But Warnock told the ECHO he felt driven to keep watch outside the house himself, “not necessarily to confront him, but at that stage we literally knew nothing about him”.

The England international added: “We sat there for an hour-and-a-half. We set the car alarm off twice, the car started to steam up. It wasn’t perfect.

“It was quite amusing if I’m being completely honest. But then around 11pm we saw him walk past the car window and I was like, ‘Right, he’s here.'” However, upon noticing a fresh camera in the front window of the property, Mulhearn quickly turned away. Warnock, eager to find out where he lived, got out of the car and began following, donning a hoodie, shorts and cap in a bid to stay unnoticed.

“We got to the top of the road, and he walked down a cul-de-sac, and I thought, “Well, I’m not walking down there'”, Warnock said. “I was quite aware of making sure I didn’t get tucked into an area I didn’t know. I’m from Ormskirk; I haven’t got a clue about the area, so there were elements of fear because you think anything could happen.

“I thought I’ll wait because he either lives in one of the houses or he has gone down there because he knows I’m behind him. I crouched down behind a car and he came back out. I continued to follow him and then all of a sudden he picked up his pace and darted away and I lost him.”

Warnock noticed a vehicle that had also been pursuing Mulhearn and approached the driver. “I went over to the car and said, ‘Are you undercover police?'” Warnock continued. “And he was like ‘No, I’m the brother who owns the house [where Mulhearn’s victims lived].

“I told him I’d lost him but he pointed over and said, ‘He’s there, you go that way, I’ll go here,’ so suddenly we had two people on the case. [Mulhearn] kept circling back on himself and I thought he must know we’re on him, he knows who I am.

“I thought I have to make myself look different so I thought, ‘Right, cap’s coming off, hoodie’s coming off. How much more can I take off? I’m snookered now.’ I was thinking I would grab him and wait for the police to come or get my phone out and at least then I could take a clear picture of him.”

Nevertheless, before he needed to intervene, an unmarked police car, responding to Warnock’s fiancée’s call, arrived and apprehended Mulhearn. “The police officer was like ‘we just need to ID him’,” Warnock said. “I said, ‘That’s him’ and the officer was like, ‘Who are you?’ We explained, and he said, ‘That’s good enough for me’.”

“There is a humorous side looking back. It’s like a dark comedy, in a serious situation, funny things happen…the police officer was taking our statement and said they had to go to another job. I said ‘I’m free if you want’.”

Mulhearn was arrested, questioned and ultimately charged. However, he initially denied any wrongdoing, claiming that he had simply been looking through the front window to see if anyone was home so he could use the toilet. However, Mulhearn formally pleaded guilty on Tuesday at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court. He received his sentence the same day, with the district judge delivering damning comments. Mulhearn was also commanded to undertake 25 rehabilitation days and 200 hours of unpaid work.

Most significantly for the victims, he was also handed a five-year restraining order. When questioned about his decision to come forward, Warnock, now a pundit working for the likes of the BBC and TNT Sports, said: “Sometimes you hear of harassment cases, but you don’t actually understand the effect it can have on [the victims].

“Speaking to them closely and understanding what they were going through wasn’t a nice thing to listen to. I think that’s ultimately why I decided to try and step in and do something about it at the very least. It felt very predatory. I just thought if you put yourself in their shoes, how would you feel?”

“It is one thing saying to women ‘Don’t walk around late at night’, but you are putting the onus on the woman. And this was like, ‘Oh, actually you are in your own home where you should be safe.”