Four migrants found hiding in a lorry in Calais were the suspected attempted murderers of the son of former British boxing champion Tony Dodson, French police revealed today.
Anthony Dodson, 21, was stabbed in the heart on Boxing Day during a brawl in the centre of Liverpool.
A manhunt was launched soon afterwards, and it reached France last week when officers raided a truck on Tuesday.
‘It was parked close to the port of Calais and was said to be full of illegal migrants,’ an investigating source said today.
‘A number of men of different nationalities, including British, were found inside the truck and they were all arrested.’
Tony Dodson, 43, competed as a boxer between 1999 and 2016, and held the British super middleweight title in 2003
Anthony Dodson, who is in his 20s, was stabbed in the heart on Boxing Day in a brawl
The men, all British and from the suburbs of Liverpool, were brought before Guirec Le Bras, the public prosecutor in Boulogne.
Mr Le Bras confirmed that all suspects were at first held for ‘the aiding and abetting of illegal residence in France’.
But – at the end of a preliminary investigation – there was not enough evidence to charge them, so they were placed ‘in administrative detention’.
It was then that the French authorities established that the men were wanted in connection with the attack on Anthony Dodson on December 26.
The men were formally expelled from French territory on Thursday, and accompanied back to England by police officers from the UK.
Once back in Liverpool, the four men were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder and violent disorder, before being charged this morning, along with a fifth suspect.
Mr Dobson was given medical assistance at the scene of the Christmas attack, before he was taken to hospital.
Mr Dobson was given medical assistance at the scene of the Christmas attack
Police officers sealed off several roads as they searched for evidence at the time of the attack
Two other men, both in their 20s, self-presented at another hospital with wounds to the head and back.
Tony Dodson, 43, competed as a boxer between 1999 and 2016, and held the British super middleweight title in 2003.
He also challenged for the Commonwealth super middleweight title in 2006 and the light heavyweight title in 2012.
Speaking previously about his son, Tony Dodson said he did not want him to pursue his own boxing career.
He said: ‘I don’t really want him to but he’s gifted, like I was. So hopefully he can continue, progress, although I’d like him to give up the boxing gloves and get the football boots out.’