Fight between warring travellers brings Christmas markets to a standstill

A section of Manchester's Christmas markets was brought to a halt on Sunday evening when two traveller men with a history of hostility engaged in a brawl, shocking bystanders. The violence broke out in Exchange Square outside Selfridges at 4.35pm when Dougie Joyce, recently released from prison, and his long-standing adversary Simon 'Simey' McGinley were involved in a fight outside the luxury department store. The initial part of the scuffle, captured on video and shared online, showed the pair fighting before falling to the ground. Following the incident Openshaw-born businessman Joyce and McGinley each claimed victory and exchanged insults. In videos of the encounter in Exchange Square published on Joyce confronts his rival outside Selfridges and can be heard shouting: "Get it up there son – who are you?" before landing a number of punches on McGinley. The pair then end up wrestling with each other and falling to the floor before others step in to separate the two who then move into the crowd and out of sight. Both men claimed victory in the scuffle which was said to have ended outside a Porky Pig stall although this does not appear to have been captured in any published footage, reports the Manchester Evening News . Afterwards both McGinley and Joyce posted video messages about the fight. McGiney, who appeared to be on a train, said: "Dougie Joyce, you came tonight to the Christmas market and you're acting now a bit of a blackguard." He showed the camera a close-up of his face and said: "There's nothing there – there's not a black eye." He continued: "But Dougie Joyce, I knocked you out on your a**e with two or three belts." In the two-minute video McGinley suggests that Dougie recruits his cousin Tommy Joyce to referee a rematch and to "get the fight on" before calling his rival a "dirty big knacker" and a "country boy". On the same evening Joyce posted a six-minute rant against McGinley in which Joyce cannot be seen but can be heard as he appears to be driving away from Manchester city centre. In the footage Joyce said he removed his watch "as a fair chap" and gave his phone "to the missus" ahead of an encounter with someone else but that McGinley then turned up. "And this is the gospel truth and this is on me mommy's life, yeah. Simey walked up to me in front of him and there's no point lying about it, and he knows his own self, he hit me a headbutt... straight to the face," said Joyce, laughing. He added: "The beating that I give Simey McGinley, and this is on my mommy's life, my sons' lives, my beautiful little girls' lives, he didn't know what day it was. The fella with two pigs' eyes got smashed and knocked out and didn't know what day it was. Simey, I bet you didn't think Dougie Joyce could hit like that did you? Simey, Simey, Simey, you're an embarrassment mate." He alleged his opponent "didn't know whether you were coming or going" and then "all your brothers got stuck into me" but didn't manage to knock him down. Joyce continued: "F*** you. You should be embarrassed in your life." He maintained he knocked his opponent "spark out" and issued a challenge for another confrontation the next morning, stating: "Simey, speak in the morning, no videos back and forth, all I want is a time in the morning, a location, my cousin Tommy or any of the boys, your uncle Jonnie or cousin Jonnie or whatever. Let's get it on. You got sparked. You got f***ed.... Did you realise, yeah, Dougie Joyce can bang! ? You got f***ed!". He laughed while branding McGinley a "dirty smelly bog man's b*****d". He vowed to release CCTV footage of the altercation and referred to McGinley as a "dirty smelly tramp's b*****d". A Greater Manchester Police spokesman confirmed officers attended Exchange Square at 4.35pm on Sunday following reports of a disturbance but the incident had concluded upon their arrival. Officers spoke with both individuals however "neither would disclose anything" and the men departed, the GMP spokesperson added, noting that no formal complaints were lodged. The long-standing feud between the two men can be traced back to 2016 when they were embroiled in a verbal spat as they attempted to arrange another fight. In June Joyce was seen promoting his new line of whisky alongside former Prime Minister Liz Truss. A video on his Instagram page showed them sitting together at a table with Truss holding a bottle of Joyce's brand of Irish whisky. In the clip Joyce hands her the bottle of whisky and says: "Just remember – Dougie Joyce loves ya" to which Truss responds: "Liz Truss loves you". Joyce, a prominent figure in Manchester's traveller community, has an extensive criminal record. His most recent prison sentence came in March 2024 following a violent clash between the Joyce and Doherty traveller families at the Vine pub in Collyhurst. Joyce received a 13-month prison sentence for violent disorder after trouble erupted. Both families had been at the pub for a wake following the death of two young men from the traveller community. At the time of his sentencing he was already serving time in prison after being jailed in November 2023 for assaulting a widower in a city centre pub. Following this incident police labelled him as an "aggressive and violent man who intended to intimidate and inflict pain on a vulnerable 78-year-old".