Man claims he was 'called a rat and smacked in head' with 10kg weight at gym Shouts of "you're getting it, you little rat" were heard as a brawl broke out at Everlast gym A man has told a court that he was "called a rat and smacked in the side of the head" with a 10kg weight at the gym. Shouts of "you're getting it, you little rat" were heard as punches were thrown and weapons were allegedly brandished and swung as fighting broke out at Everlast Gym in Aintree. Three men, Cory Bruen, Peter Humphreys and Alexander Lane, are currently on trial at Liverpool Crown Court accused of affray in connection with the incident while the latter's older brother, Vaughan Lane, previously pleaded guilty to his involvement in the altercation. The younger of the two siblings today told the jury that their co-defendants had threatened the elder and told him "get outside you rat" before he had his "ear split open" with the weight. ‌ Kevin Liston, prosecuting, previously told a jury of three men and nine women during the crown's opening yesterday, Tuesday: "This case relates to a violent clash between four males in a public place while innocent bystanders looked on. The crown say there are essentially two sides to the incident. On one side, Alexander Lane and his brother Vaughan Lane, and, on the other side, Cory Bruen and his friend Peter Humphreys." ‌ The Lane brothers were seen on CCTV footage arriving at the premises on Ormskirk Road shortly after 10am on February 28 2023, with 29-year-old Vaughan checking in using a membership under another man's name. Their co-defendants then arrived just under 15 minutes later and made their way onto the gymnasium floor. It was at this stage they were said to have been "immediately sighted by the Lane brothers", who had been located in a weights area. Mr Liston described how Vaughan Lane was seen "making the first movement towards Mr Bruen and Mr Humphreys, lunging towards them", adding: "The crown cannot say if any party was armed at that point. "Both Mr Bruen and Mr Humphreys immediately run towards the other end of the gym and are chased by the Lane brothers. A fight occurs, and there is a group of other gym users gathering to watch. The crown say that all four males are exchanging violent blows, Mr Vaughan Lane and Mr Bruen fighting one on one while Mr Alexander Lane and Mr Humphreys are stood toe to toe, Mr Humphreys brandishing a weight as a weapon. Article continues below "Other footage which captured the incident captures a comment, 'you’re getting it, you little rat'. The crown cannot say who made that comment. Mr Humphreys, by his own admission, accepted picking up a weight which he used to swing at Alexander Lane, claiming to do so in self defence." Forty-two-year-old Humphreys, of Roughwood Drive in Kirkby, then dropped the weight and left the gym, with 25-year-old Alexander Lane, of Dodds Lane in Maghull, thereafter "joining the fight" involving his brother and 30-year-old Bruen, of Cleadon Road in Kirkby. Mr Liston told jurors: "A young female appears to be in some degree of shock and moves away in order to avoid being caught up. Alexander Lane can be seen running into shot and throwing punches at Mr Bruen. At this stage, various people come to try and separate the matter. ‌ "When the fight eventually separates, Mr Bruen is seen to be bleeding from his face and head. The Lane brothers are ushered out of the gymnasium and leave. A short time later, Mr Humphreys returned and collected Mr Bruen. "Each of the three defendants in the dock accepts that they were present in the gym and were in some way involved in the incident. Significantly, each of them denies the use of unlawful violence. "Mr Bruen and Mr Humphreys will claim that they were defending themselves. Mr Alexander Lane will claim essentially two things. One, that he was defending himself and, thereafter, that he was defending his brother Vaughan Lane." ‌ 'Get outside you rat, get outside now' Alexander Lane was called to give evidence from the witness box this afternoon, Wednesday. Wearing a white shirt and black tie and sporting short curly dark hair and a beard, he described himself as a "full time student" with no previous convictions. Having been sworn in on the bible, he labelled his relationship with his brother as "very close" and stated that they were "best mates really". Lane detailed how he had been a member of the gym for around a year previously and "was in there every day". Under questioning from his counsel Olivia Belle, he recalled how Vaughan Lane had meanwhile borrowed their step dad's membership in order to gain entry on the day in question. Although he stated that he had never seen Bruen or Humphreys before, he said of their arrival: "I seen them coming in. When I first became totally aware was when they started making threats towards my brother. ‌ "I'd just finished doing a set on the machine. My brother was waiting for me. I got up to let him onto the machine. I saw his attention was drawn to something. I seen him looking at something. I heard things being said. I couldn’t really pick up on what was being said until they got a bit closer. "A lot of 'rats' were getting said, 'get outside you rat'. At first, I didn't really know who it was aimed towards. I said to my brother, 'do you know these?'. As they got closer, they said 'get outside now'. "I was confused at first. I didn't understand what was going on. I said to my brother, 'do you know these?'. He didn't really reply. He was looking at them. My brother made a move towards them. I didn't really understand what was going on. A fight broke out, basically. ‌ "Cory and my brother sort of met in the middle. They were fighting. It was like mutual. They started fighting there and then. Mr Humphreys made a lunge towards my brother. I’m not gonna let two people fight my brother who I don't know in the gym. You can see it on CCTV, clear as day. “I just didn't want my brother to be attacked, two on one. It's not a very fair fight to come in and start attacking someone two on one. I initially started walking towards them. When I seen them running towards my brother, I made a little dart towards them. I was just trying to scare them off out the gym. "I seen the lunge towards my brother. At that point, I decided to intervene. [Humphreys] started running. Once I seen him run past the exit, I knew he weren't leaving. I seen him running over to where the weights were." ‌ Lane recounted how Humphreys went on to pick up a "10kg plate", adding: "It just all happened that quick. I knew he was picking it up for a reason, so [I was] slightly fearful, confused. I didn't know if he was picking it up for me or if he was going to attack my brother." He described himself as "keeping his distance" and having adopted a "defensive" stance, continuing: "You don't want to get hit by a weight really, it's going to do some damage. I've got my hands by my side. I haven't got them up, ready to fight. I'm on my toes obviously. I was ready for him to come for me. "As you can see on the CCTV, I wasn't actively pursuing him. As he ran past the exit, I slowed down. It would have been easier to attack Mr Bruen on his own, but it wasn't like that. I just wanted to make sure my brother was ok. I didn't want him attacked in the gym and getting hurt. ‌ "I just remember getting called a rat, 'you're getting it'. Next thing I know, I've been smacked in the side of the head with a plate. It split my ear open. I felt it straight away. It felt like a burning sensation. I didn't know what it was at first. I touched it and there was blood all over my hand, a lot really. "He comes forward to attack me again and swing it again, then he decides to run off. I put my hand up to try to grab the weight if he decided to swing it again." Lane said that he was then "in pain" and "fearful a bit", telling the court: "I've had a brain injury before. I've just been hit in the head with a weight. I was scared that could have brought something back. He ran off through the exit then. Then, I just heard a bang and all screaming coming from round the corner." ‌ Asked of his thoughts at this moment, he stated: "What's going on here? Is my brother alright? Is he hurt? Is there more people that I didn't see? I come walking round that corner and seen my brother on the floor with someone standing over him. I could just see blood on the pair of them. "His jacket is all ripped. There's blood over the pair of them. Mr Bruen is stood over him attacking him. I could just see his hand throwing punches and a lot of screaming. "When you see someone being attacked, a family member, you don't really have time to analyse what's going on. I just seen my brother being attacked with blood everywhere. I just decided to step in and help him. I've thrown a punch towards Mr Bruen. I don’t know if it landed or not." ‌ Asked what his "intentions" were, Lane said: "To get him off my brother. To get him away. He was on top of my brother. My brother was on the floor." He added that he was "fearful something bad was going to happen to my brother" and said: "I didn't know what had happened. I could see a lot of blood, a lot of screaming. He didn't get off. I threw one or two more, pushed him off. I said to my brother, 'lets go'. I didn't want to stay there. I didn't know what was going to happen." Lane stated that he had swung "three or four" punches in total during the incident and stopped "once he was off my brother". Asked why he had then left, he said: "I didn't want anything else to happen. I didn't know how badly injured I was, I didn't know how badly injured my brother was. I didn't want to be in the same place it happened." Article continues below Bruen, Humphreys and Alexander Lane all deny affray, with Vaughan Lane, also of Dodds Lane, having admitted the same count. The trial, before Judge Charlotte Crangle, continues.