- Dougie Joyce brutally attacked a 78-year-old pensioner in November 2022
- Joyce is serving a 19-month sentence for the attack on defenceless elderly man
- Elements of Manchester’s underworld have turned against Joyce
It was a cold rainy night in Manchester’s glitzy Northern Quarter when high-profile traveller Dougie Joyce launched a sickening attack on a grieving pensioner enjoying a quiet drink.
The 35-year-old bare knuckle boxer was on night out with his father Jon when he decided to unload a series of savage blows on his 78-year-old victim.
A shocking video of the attack showed the traveller and businessman knock the recently widowed elderly man off his chair with three savage blows, before flooring him again after he got to his feet.
The injuries to the man’s face were exacerbated by the large golden pyramid ring Joyce was wearing.
Joyce was later jailed for the assault and his currently serving a 19-month sentence.
But this week rumours swirled Manchester’s underworld that local gangsters were disgusted by the cowardly beating and had Joyce attacked in his cell.
The pensioner, who was well-known and well-liked in Dougie’s hometown, is understood to have turned elements of Manchester’s hardmen and underworld figures against Joyce, whose family is one of the most high-profile traveller clans in the UK.
An gangland source told MailOnline: ‘A couple of lads burst into his pad (cell) and kicked him around a bit. No one likes him.’
To salvage his reputation, Joyce, who once claimed he’d be the ‘next Tyson Fury’ after turning down a role on reality TV show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding, released a video from his cell laughing off the attack, saying he was ‘fresh as a daisy’.
Things were a lot brighter for the former amateur boxer before the November 2022 assault.
He showed off a glamorous life with his former air hostess wife and made an Amazon Prime documentary about his family.
Joyce also ran several successful business – including, his bare knuckle boxing promotion company, a bespoke furniture range, activewear companies and his own whiskey brand, Joyce’s Irish Whiskey.
Now MailOnline understands his promotions company, 3D Fight Club, is under threat due to sponsors walking and local authorities refusing to grant his fights licences.
‘Who will want to be associated with anything Dougie does now. He was caught on camera battering an old man?’ a source said.
And the heartless thug can’t go on glitzy nights out with his wife, Holly Joyce, or share glamorous pictures of themselves enjoying luxury holidays or posing in their flash SUV.
The couple got married in July 2022 in an extravagant £60,000 ceremony in Gorton Monastery that included four Rolls Royces, a £12,000 dress and champagne on tap.
Joyce even wanted to arrive in a helicopter but the venue wouldn’t allow him to park the chopper in the car park.
After the wedding, Holly had to get used to life as a traveller’s wife, which meant she had to follow a completely new set of rules including not going out without her husband and ‘what he says goes’.
The scenes of the glamorous wedding are a far cry from the TikTok video of Joyce lying in his grim cell.
A source revealed the vicious pub attack happened while the thug was ‘off his head on cocaine’.
A man said: ‘So the old fella is a well-known in the area. He suffered a bereavement and everyone feels sorry for him.
‘He said the wrong thing to Dougie’s dad and that was it. Dougie was off his head on cocaine at the time and did the poor fella in.’
The incident happened in a pub on Thomas Street in the heart of the city’s trendy Northern Quarter.
Fashion house Chanel hosted a fashion shoot in the street last year, flying in celebrities from around the world to promote Manchester to the world.
Joyce and his brother Johnny are both well known figures in the city and across the traveller community.
Much of their notoriety stems from a lingering feud with reality television star Paddy Doherty.
In 2011, Manchester Crown Court heard how Johnny Joyce, then only 19, fractured Paddy’s jaw during a fight in a caravan park. Joyce told the court that he feared for his safety after being lured to the traveller’s site in the Salford area of the city.
Paddy said that he was suddenly punched in the face by the younger man, and ‘never saw it coming’.
Paul Massey, then a well-known figure in Manchester’s underworld, appeared as a star witness for the defence.
The Salford man said that Doherty had tried to ‘set up’ Joyce but the stunt went wrong because the reality star had too much to drink.
Massey, who later died in a machine gun attack outside his own home, was accused of concocting the story to assist his friend.
Massey’s intervention appeared to have been decisive and the jury cleared Johnny of the charges.
However, a few weeks later, Mr Doherty bumped into the Joyce brothers while out running in the Ardwick area of the city.
The encounter led to a fight between Johnny and Mr Doherty in the carpark of PC World.
The brawl, filmed by Dougie, spilled out onto a road and forced passing cars to stop. The older man appeared to get the better of Johnny and at one point knocked him to the ground.
A source said: ‘Dougie was filming it on his phone. But when Johnny was knocked down he stopped and attacked Paddy. They both got stuck into Paddy, who was on his own and twice their age. Horrible.’
Dougie Joyce could be overheard shouting: ‘Come you dirty Doherty b******, give it to him Johnny, give to the dirty tramp, floor the dirty tramp.’
During the street brawl Johnny bit off a section of Mr Doherty’s ear, which left the older man drenched in blood.
Johnny Joyce would later plead guilty to affray and was jailed for 15 months at Manchester Crown Court.
Dougie Joyce admitted using threatening behaviour and was given a 12 month community order and ordered to complete 150 hours unpaid work.
Mr Doherty, who also admitted using threatening behaviour, was given a suspended prison sentence.
Unfortunately the Doherty Joyce feud has lingered on over recent years, with the rival camps posting videos on social media accusing their rivals of wrongdoing.
Mr Doherty recently welcomed the prison sentence handed down to Dougie Joyce.
He said: ‘He’s an old widow man, just buried his wife. Shame on you.
‘I wouldn’t wish no one in jail, but when someone’s sick, disgusted, hitting an old, old man, a great great grandfather, then you deserve it. There are good people among Joyces, but you tarnished the name.’
There are also question marks over the future of a bare knuckle boxing company 3D Fight Club founded by Dougie Joyce.
The Manchester man has been an advocate for the sport in the past, said it’s moody reputation was not deserved. The company has hosted events at Bowlers Exhibition Centre near Old Trafford in the past.
Paul Kelly, a former Liverpool MMA fighter who was jailed for drug offences, has been photographed with one of the organisers.
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News last year, Joyce said: ‘We have created this because people have made it sound barbaric.
‘So people will be afraid to approach it and think “oh it’s bare-knuckle, oh it’s bloody, it’s this, that and the other”.
‘But it is really not that bad. You have got your medics, you’ve got your referees, everything is all done professionally. I am proud to say every show I have had, there has been not one problem, no kick off, no violence.’
But after the pub attack there are suggestions sponsors will not want to be associated with the Joyce brand.
A man said: ‘Who will want to be associated with anything Dougie does now. He was caught on camera battering an old man? His commercial partners will walk. And I would be shocked if any local authority agreed to licence an event put on by Dougie or his mates.’
Speaking after last year’s pub attack, Detective Constable Natalie Hollows said: ‘Joyce is an aggressive and violent man who intended to intimidate and inflict pain on a vulnerable 78-year-old man by carrying out this horrendous assault.
‘Joyce was wearing a large gold pyramid-style ring when he punched the man in the face, causing him significant injury due to the size and shape accelerated by force and the series of punches he endured.
‘I’m glad Joyce will now face time behind bars as punishment for his actions and hope he takes this time to reflect on the impact of his actions.’
Last year, Johnny Joyce was jailed for seven years after he was found guilty of possession of a prohibited weapon.
Police were called out to Richmond Road in Failsworth after a man was ‘pistol whipped’ by thugs.
When police arrested Kane Barker, they found a gun in his basement and text messages on his phone between himself and Johnny Joyce linking the two to the vicious assault.
Kane was sentenced to six years and one month in prison after he pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited weapon.
William Turner is a seasoned U.K. correspondent with a deep understanding of domestic affairs. With a passion for British politics and culture, he provides insightful analysis and comprehensive coverage of events within the United Kingdom.
