The 54-year-old is facing sentencing after admitting a total of 31 charges on the day he was due to stand trial
Court artist sketch of Paul Doyle(Image: Elizabeth Cook/PA Wire)
A man shouted at Paul Doyle “run me over, go’ed” as the LFC parade crash perpetrator tried to force his car through crowds of people. The 54-year-old, of Burghill Road in West Derby, admitted a total of 31 charges last month, having driven his car into crowds of fans during the celebrations earlier this year.
More than 100 pedestrians, ranging from babies to a 78-year-old woman, were injured after being struck by the Ford Galaxy on Water Street in Liverpool city centre shortly after 6pm on Monday, May 26, as what was meant to be a day of joy turned into scenes of devastation and terror.
Fifty casualties required hospital treatment in the aftermath of the appalling incident, although they were later discharged. Doyle changed his pleas to guilty on the day he was due to go on trial and returned to Liverpool Crown Court in order to be sentenced today, Monday.
Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, opened the case against Doyle by saying the defendant “drove aggressively and dangerously” as he returned into the city centre to collect friends he had dropped off earlier in the day. The court heard Doyle ran a red light and undertook a number of vehicles at a roundabout as he approached Dale Street.
Dashcam footage taken from Doyle’s own car showed him follow behind a bus before drifting to the right to see if he could make progress. Mr Greaney told the court “the defendant was plainly impatient by this point” and started using the horn on his car while also calling his friend to find out where he was.
Doyle continued down Dale Street, driving “aggressively” close to a woman with a buggy with a child. The defendant found his path blocked by a red taxi and shouted “come on” as he tried to force his way through. He then drove down the right-hand lane, mumbling “f***ing move”.
Forensic officers at the scene in Water Street(Image: PA Archive/PA Images)
Mr Greaney said: “The strong sense from the dashcam footage is that the defendant regarded himself as the most important person on Dale Street, and considered that everyone else needed to get out of his way so that he could get to where he wanted to get to.
“As he drove through a red light at the junction with Stanley Street, one pedestrian, with his arms outstretched above his head, can be heard to say, ‘run me over – go ahead you’, and someone banged on the vehicle – but that is hardly surprising given the defendant’s attempts to force his way down the road. As he became more and more frustrated, the defendant increased the speed of the Galaxy.”
Doyle’s dashcam footage was played to the court, showing streams of fans parting in order to allow the vehicle to pass through even prior to the roadblock on Water Street. At this point, his speed then appeared to increase as he began colliding with pedestrians.
Audio recorded by the camera meanwhile captured Doyle beeping his horn and saying: “F***ing p**cks. F***ing p**cks. F***ing d***head. F***ing p**ck. F***ing move. F***ing move. Get out of the f***ing way. F***ing hell. F***s sake. Move. Get out the f***ing way. Get out the f***ing way. Get out the way. Move, move, move.
“Move, move. Move out the f***ing way. Move, move. Move, move. F***ing hell. Get out the f***ing way. What are you f***ing doing?”
He then came to a set of traffic cones and stops. He again says “f***ing p*****”, with crowds responding with chants of “w*****”. The footage shows Doyle accelerate forward and begin to make contact with the crowd in front of him.
Doyle’s front windscreen was seen to crack upon impact with one parade attendee who was thrown onto his bonnet. Around half a dozen people are thrown to the floor, but Doyle continues to shout: “F***ing move get out the f***ing way, f***ing hell. F***s sake move get out the f***ing way.”
A child is seen to be thrown to the floor by his car. Doyle again shouts: “Get out the f***ing way. Move. Move. Move. Move.” The terrified faces of other victims were meanwhile clearly visible as they were struck by the car, some becoming momentarily trapped on the bumper they were flung aside by the force of the vehicle.
Police on Water Street following the Liverpool crash(Image: Jan Kruger/Getty Images)
Mr Greaney earlier told the court: “It is important at the outset to explain what did not cause Paul Doyle, then a 53-year-old family man who lived a short distance from the city centre to behave in this way. At the time of these events, some at the scene thought that what was taking place was a terrorist attack, with the driver utilising a vehicle to attack in a way that has occurred before; for example, during the London Bridge attack on the 3rd of June 2017.
“That is not what occurred. Paul Doyle’s actions were, the prosecution is entirely satisfied, not driven by ideology. This was, it should be categorically stated, not a terrorist attack.
“So, was what happened the result of some defect in the vehicle? Did the brakes fail or the vehicle suddenly accelerate without any intervention by the driver? Paul Doyle has never suggested that happened, and expert investigation by the police has excluded any problem with the vehicle as having caused or contributed to what occurred. So, that is not the explanation.
“Was Paul Doyle drunk or high on drugs? Again, the prosecution is able to give a definitive answer to that question. He was not. At the time that he drove into and over 100 people, Paul Doyle was completely sober, and free of all drugs.
“So, why did the defendant behave in such an extraordinary and harmful way on Dale Street and Water Street? Paul Doyle claimed, when subsequently interviewed by the police, that he acted as he did in a blind panic and in fear of his life because of how some in the crowd had behaved towards him. The position of the prosecution is that this account given by the defendant to the investigators was untrue.
“The truth is a simple one. Paul Doyle just lost his temper in his desire to get to where he wanted to get to. In a rage, he drove into the crowd. When he did so, he intended to cause people within the crowd serious harm. He was prepared to cause those in the crowd, even children, serious harm if necessary to achieve his aim of getting through. The truth is as simple as the consequences were awful.”
The charges Doyle has admitted included 17 charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent. The complainants in these matters were named as six-month-old Teddy Eveson, other boys and girls aged seven months, 10, 11, 13, as well as adults Jack Trotter, Jon Evans, Scott Dolan, Ashton Gilmore, Jacqueline McClaren, Jamie Fagan, Carl Martin, James Vernon, Emily Wright, David Price, James Weston and Ethan Gillard.
A further nine counts which he pleaded guilty to stated that he caused grievous bodily harm with intent to Helen Gilmore, Anna Bilonozhenko, Sheree Aldridge, Sam Alexander, Hannah O’Neill, Stefan Dettlaf, Christine Seeckts, Susan Passey and Aaron Cothliff. He finally faces sentence for three offences of wounding with intent against a 12-year-old boy, Simon Nash and Robin Darke, as well as matters of affray and dangerous driving.
It is anticipated that Doyle, who is represented by Simon Csoka KC and Damian Nolan, will not be sentenced by the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC until tomorrow, Tuesday. The hearing continues, with the ECHO providing live updates from courtroom 41.
You can follow the ECHO’s live coverage HERE.
