The driver who mowed down crowds of football fans at Liverpool FC’s Premier League trophy celebrations cried as footage from his dashcam was played to a court.
Paul Doyle, who is being sentenced for the parade attack, could be heard screaming ‘move’, ‘f****** pricks’ and ‘get out the f****** way’ after losing his temper with the route being blocked.
At one point, he can be heard shouting ‘It’s a f****** road’.
The horrifying footage played to the court showed supporters on the bonnet of his seven-seater car, as people, including children, appeared to go under the vehicle.
‘Well over’ 100 people were hit during the seven-minute attack on May 26, which was immediately feared to be a terrorist incident.
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Investigators said that Doyle, a former Royal Marine, did not have a terror motive, however, and was also not under the influence of alcohol or drugs at the time.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC said that although Doyle had initially claimed to have panicked in fear of his life,’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.’
A 'substantial prison sentence' expected
Jonathan Doak, professor of Criminal Justice at Nottingham Law School, told Metro: ‘Paul Doyle is almost certain to receive a substantial custodial sentence, likely extending over several decades.
‘His background as a former Royal Marine and father-of-three, together with visible remorse in court and his eventual guilty plea, may be advanced in mitigation.
‘However, these factors will be heavily eclipsed by the gravity of the offences. Doyle deliberately used a car as a weapon, injuring more than a hundred people, many with life‑changing consequences.
‘The attack unfolded in a crowded public setting, targeting multiple victims and triggering widespread panic and psychological trauma.
‘Although prosecutors accepted that he was not ideologically motivated, the scale, intent, and impact of his actions bear striking similarities to a terrorist attack, and sentencing will reflect that level of seriousness.’
Opening the facts of the case, 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.’
Referring to the time period between 5.59pm and 6.01pm, he told the court: ‘The prosecution case is that the defendant had used the vehicle as a weapon over that period of time.
‘In doing so, he not only caused injury on a large scale, but he also generated horror in those who had attended what they had thought would be a day of joyfulness.’
Doyle had driven into the city to collect a friend and his family from the celebrations.
‘That the defendant was initially motivated that day by kindness only serves to make what he did later the more staggering,’ Mr Greaney said.
Doyle’s youngest victim was just six months old, a baby boy who was being pushed in his pram at the time. Teddy Eveson was thrown about 15 feet down the road in his pram when the crash happened, his parents said.
The oldest of the 29 victims named in the charges was 77 years old.
Doyle put his head down and shut his eyes as the footage showed his car hitting crowds of supporters in the city centre.
Other victims in court were also in tears as the video was played, which showed the view from the windscreen of his Ford Galaxy, which weighed near two tonnes.
Pedestrians could be seen pulling their children out of the way to stop them being hit as he drove down Dale Street.
As Doyle ploughed down Water Street, a closed-off street packed with fans, he could be heard shouting and screaming ‘move’, ‘f****** pricks’ and ‘get out the f****** way’.
The footage, which will not be released because of its graphic nature, showed the windscreen smash after a man landed on it.
Doyle, of Croxteth, changed his plea to guilty during his trial, admitting dangerous driving, affray, 17 charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, nine counts of causing GBH with intent and three counts of wounding with intent.
As well as the young baby who Doyle admitted trying to injure, five other children, who he either injured or attempted to injure, cannot be named for legal reasons.
His sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court is due to last two days.
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