Anthony ‘Tony’ Lawler was fatally shot in front of his mum after a suspected dispute between two families reached a boiling point
Police forensic officers at the scene of the Tony Lawlor shooting in Netherley(Image: Liverpool Echo)
It has been 24 years since Anthony ‘Tony’ Lawlor was gunned down in broad daylight in front of his elderly mother – a brutal killing that remains unsolved to this day. Tony, 45, was outside a row of shops on Middlemass Hey, Netherley, on October 11, 2001, when a gang of armed men pulled up in a blue Ford Transit van. One of them, masked and dressed in black, chased him onto nearby wasteland before opening fire.
The shocking attack was witnessed by his mum, Maisie Lawlor, who had just been dropped off at the shops by her son moments before. As Tony lay dying, Maisie, then in her late 60s, ran toward the gunman and began hitting him with her shopping bags.
The man shouted at her to back off before fleeing to the waiting van, where three other men, described by police as “bodybuilder types”, were waiting.
The gang’s getaway van, which had been stolen months earlier in east Merseyside and fitted with false number plates, was later found torched nearby.
Another vehicle, a BMW 322i also believed to have false plates, was seen leaving the scene and was also found burned out several miles away.
The horrific daylight killing, that also saw a stray bullet hit an 11-year-old boy in the leg, came in a tidal wave of gang-related violence that saw terror rip through the streets of Liverpool.
Police stand guard at the crime scene where Tony Lawlor was shot dead (Image: Liverpool Echo )
Just five months earlier, on May 19, Tony’s younger brother Stephen Lawlor was shot dead as he left a party near his home in Netherley.
Former soldier Peter Clarke, then 23, was arrested and charged with Stephen’s murder. Prosecutors alleged the crime was motivated by “ill feeling” between the Clarke and Lawlor families, who were both big players in the “door wars” of pub and club security.
As Clarke was hauled into custody to await trial, another murder shocked the city when his older brother Ian – a 32-year-old dad-of-three – was shot in his car at a red light at the junction of Rocky Lane and Belmont Road, Tuebrook, on September 8 of the same year.
But before the dust had the chance to settle, gunshots rang out on the streets again just over a month later when Tony was killed in yet another suspected revenge attack.
Tony’s mum, Maisie, who died in 2013 without getting justice for her sons, told The ECHO in November 2001: “I am still grieving for Stevie but now it is double the pain. I keep getting flashbacks of it, seeing Tony jumping as he tried to get out of the way of the bullets.
“The thing that hurts me the most is that after they shot him again and again and again, one of them leaned over and looked right at him to check he was dead.
Police at the scene where a burned out van was found believed to have been the one used by gunmen when they shot and killed Tony Lawlor(Image: Liverpool Echo)
“My son was executed in front of me. I look at a photograph of my five sons. Now two are gone. I am so worried in case anything else happens.”
A spokesperson for the Lawlor family previously said they had been overwhelmed by the kindness shown by the local community in the aftermath of Tony’s murder.
Despite extensive investigations, all three murders remain unsolved. Peter Clarke was convicted of Stephen Lawlor’s killing in December 2001 but was later acquitted following a re-trial at Manchester Crown Court.
Merseyside Police has said measures can be put in for anyone who is able to provide information that could lead to the cases finally being solved.
Issuing a fresh appeal, Howard Rubbery, Head of the Serious Crime Review Unit, said: “It is now 24 years since Tony Lawlor was fatally shot in Netherley.
“As with all open murder investigations the circumstances are regularly reviewed to establish if there are any new lines of enquiry for us to explore and our appeal to any member of the public who has information to come forward remains ongoing.
“Time should never be a reason to stay silent. Any small piece of information may prove vital.”
Anyone with information should contact the Merseyside Police social media desk @MerPolCC on X and Facebook. You can also report information via the website: https://www.merseyside.police.uk/ro/report/ocr/af/how-to-report-a-crime/ or call 101.
Alternatively, contact the independent charity Crimestoppers anonymously on 0800 555 111, or via their website here: https://crimestoppers-uk.org/give-information/forms/give-information-anonymously.