Stephen Warnock played a key role in helping police catch Andrew Mulhearn
11:48, 20 Apr 2026Updated 12:20, 20 Apr 2026
Former Liverpool player Stephen Warnock pictured at the ECHO office(Image: Andrew Teebay)
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 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 his motivation was personal. He said: “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.”
Stephen Warnock during his playing career turning out for Liverpool against Arsenal at Anfield(Image: Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
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 ECHO has seen several pieces of footage showing the same man approaching the front of the house.
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”.
The England international continued: “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 humorous 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.'”
Andrew Mulhearn captured on Ring doorbell sentenced for two counts of harassment without violence(Image: Supplied)
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.
“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 car that had also been following Mulhearn and went over to speak to 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.”
Former Liverpool player Stephen Warnock(Image: Andrew Teebay)
But before he had to make the decision, an unmarked police car, responding to Warnock’s fiancée’s call, arrived and grabbed 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, 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.
Andrew Mulhearn captured on Ring doorbell sentenced for two counts of harassment without violence(Image: Supplied)
But Mulhearn formally pleaded guilty on Tuesday 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.
Asked why he wanted to share the story, Warnock, now a pundit working for the likes of the BBC and BT 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.”