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A driver who ploughed into crowds celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League title has been jailed for 21 years and six months after unleashing what a judge described as scenes of “horror and devastation” on the city’s streets.
Paul Doyle, 54, wept openly in court as victim impact statements detailed the permanent injuries, trauma and nightmares suffered by those caught up in the attack.
“What should have been a day of communal celebration has instead left a lasting legacy of fear, injury and loss,” Judge Andrew Menary told him. “Your actions caused horror and devastation on a scale not previously encountered by this court.”
Dashcam footage played during the two-day sentencing hearing showed Doyle sounding his horn aggressively, shouting and swearing as he drove towards packed crowds.
The judge said Doyle struck people head-on, knocked others onto his bonnet, drove over limbs, crushed prams and sent pedestrians fleeing in terror.
He added that Doyle continued “person after person” with no justification beyond “impatience and arrogance”.
Doyle pleaded guilty last month to 31 offences, including causing grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding with intent, affray and dangerous driving.
Prosecutors told Liverpool Crown Court that Doyle used his two-tonne car as a weapon, injuring 134 people in less than 10 minutes. His victims ranged in age from six months to 77 years.
On May 26, Doyle left his Liverpool home in a Ford Galaxy, intending to collect a friend amid celebrations for the club’s record-equalling 20th league title. Instead, for over seven minutes, he drove repeatedly into pedestrians.
Although no one died, 50 people required hospital treatment. One six-month-old baby was thrown from a pram but escaped serious injury. Police quickly ruled out terrorism.
After striking the initial victims, Doyle continued into another street, reversing at one point and colliding with more people and even an ambulance.
The car eventually stopped only after pedestrians became trapped beneath it and a bystander climbed inside to put it into park.
Judge Menary told Doyle he had several chances to stop but chose not to.
Doyle, a former IT cybersecurity worker who once served briefly in the Royal Marines, had a previous conviction in his 20s for a violent assault during a drunken fight.
Merseyside Police Detective Chief Inspector John Fitzgerald described the footage as the most distressing he had seen in 20 years, saying it was “difficult to comprehend” how someone could drive over people in a moment of rage.
