A sick thug who punched a defenceless 78-year-old man can be revealed as a bare knuckle boxer from a famous traveller family who is said to have turned down a role in Channel 4’s iconic show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
Douglas ‘Dougie’ Joyce, 35, was jailed for 19 months on Friday after he was caught on CCTV as he unleashed a sickening attack on a helpless man in the back room of a pub, leaving his victim with serious injuries.
After following the pensioner through the Manchester pub, he delivered brutal blows to his victim’s face while wearing a large gold ring which added to the horror injuries.
Joyce’s family are one of the most high-profile in the traveller community in the UK and their lives were recently documented on an Amazon production. The Joyce Family Documentary, which was released last year, ‘explores the world of the travelling community’.
The boxer even planned to arrive at his own £60,000 wedding ceremony in a helicopter but was banned from doing so because the venue said he couldn’t land in the car park.
Douglas Joyce was planned to arrive at his own £60,000 wedding ceremony in a helicopter but was banned from doing so because the venue said he couldn’t land in the car park. Here, he is pictured on his wedding day
Douglas ‘Dougie’ Joyce (pictured) was jailed for 19 months by Manchester Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm
The brute is seen showing off a fighting belt in one of his YouTube videos. He has over 26,000 subscribers
Joyce’s family are one of the most high profile in the traveller community in the UK and their lives were recently documented on an Amazon production
Joyce regularly posts training videos on his YouTube channel. He is the founder of 3D Fight Club, which he set up two years ago
The thug is pictured driving in a fancy 4×4 car. He has previously shown off a 4×4 with a personalised number plate
Joyce married his wife in an extravagant ceremony at the Gorton Monastery in Manchester last year. The lavish do included four Rolls Royces and a £12,000 Calla Blanche dress which took over a year to make.
Footage from the fancy wedding was posted on his YouTube channel which has over 26,000 subscribers. Joyce was pictured wearing a luxury three piece suit and a gold watch.
Joyce promotes his fights and posts training videos on his channel, while in various clips he is seen driving an expensive 4×4 with a personalised number plate. His high profile in the traveller community means he is often called out to fight.
Joyce is also the founder and president of 3D Fight Club – a bare knuckle boxing and MMA organisation he set up two years ago.
He revealed earlier this year that he launched the concept – a mixture of traditional boxing, kickboxing, MMA and bare-knuckle boxing – to prove to people that the latter is not ‘barbaric’.
Joyce’s company put a 10-fight card event on in Manchester, where he is from, in June but the organisation will no doubt be rocked by his jail sentence.
Joyce is back in the spotlight again after being caught on camera delivering horrifying blows on a 78-year-old man.
He began shouting and pointing at the man, before punching him in the face three times and knocking him off his seat into the seats next to him, which caused him to bleed.
Joyce continued to stand over the victim in a threatening manner and encouraged his father John to punch him as well.
When the victim stood up, Joyce punched the victim’s face hard, which caused him to propel backwards over the table and chairs behind him.
Joyce is also the founder and president of 3D Fight Club – a bare knuckle boxing and MMA organisation he set up two years ago. He is pictured promoting one of his events above
Brute Douglas Joyce, 35, is seen in footage punching his victim in a sickening attack – which left him seriously injured – after he had followed him into a back room of a pub
Joyce continued to stand directly over the man, leaning into him whilst shouting and pointing.
He then made one final punch to the victim’s face whilst he was helpless on the ground.
Joyce was jailed on Friday for 19 months by Manchester Crown Court after previously pleading guilty to causing grievous bodily harm.
Greater Manchester Police said the victim was seriously injured in the attack in a pub in Manchester city centre at around 10pm on October 23, 2022.
The force said CCTV evidence pointed to Douglas Joyce being primarily responsible for the man’s injuries and he was arrested and charged with section 18 assault.
Speaking after sentencing, 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.
Greater Manchester Police said the victim was seriously injured in the attack in a pub in Manchester city centre at around 10pm on October 23, 2022
He began shouting and pointing at the man, before punching him in the face three times and knocking him off his seat into the seats next to him, which caused him to bleed
When the victim stood up, Joyce punched the victim’s face hard, which caused him to propel backwards over the table and chairs behind him
‘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.’
Joyce’s father John, 63, was also sentenced to 18 month community order for assault causing occasioning actual bodily harm for his involvement in this assault.