Graham Farrell was a Baldwin's Casuals client who placed a big order when the factory went over to manufacturing curtains in January 1988.
The order was as much as the staff could handle but Mike got it out in time by doing a rush job and putting the girls on overtime. Impressed, Graham offered to put more work Mike's way and arranged a foursome with Mike and their partners - Graham's wife Linda and Mike's girlfriend Gloria Todd - and placed another order with Mike, admiring his assuredness that he could get the machinists to work whatever hours it took to get the order out.
A few weeks later, Gloria brought a drunken Linda home from a girls night out but Graham smelled a rat as Gloria was sober and Linda wouldn't say which pubs or clubs they'd been to. He confided in Mike that he thought Linda was seeing someone else and that Gloria was covering for her, but Mike vouched for Gloria and advised him to forget about it. The next day, Linda left Graham, claiming to be fed up with him. During the ensuing row, Linda mentioned that she'd recently had a fling with Mike. Graham then wasted no time in getting even with Mike, cornering him as he was leaving the factory that evening and giving him a beating, aided by his brother John.