Paul Doyle was arrested and charged with being the man behind the wheel of a dark grey minivan which ploughed into crowds at the Liverpool FC victory parade in May
The alleged driver of car which mowed down huge crowds at Liverpool’s victory parade broke down in tears as he was charged with another 24 offences. Paul Doyle, 53, already faced a string of charges after a Ford Galaxy minivan ploughed into scores of football fans in May.
But as Doyle, of Burghill Road, West Derby, appeared in court on Thursday morning, prosecutors levelled another 24 charges at him relating to 23 more victims. It brings the total number of victims on the indictment to 29, including eight children – two of whom were just six and seven-month-old babies at the time.
As the hearing began, Doyle clasped his hands to his face and broke down in tears. Appearing via video link the father of three struggled to speak as he sobbed when asked if he could hear the proceedings via a webcam in prison.
He wore a grey t-shirt and sat behind a desk with a notepad, pen, and his black rim glasses in front of him. Members of Doyle’s family and the victims families were sat in the public gallery in Liverpool crown court.
Around 1.5 million Liverpool FC fans had lined the city streets to celebrate the Premier League winners when the incident unfolded. Police said there were a total of 134 people injured that day. Of those 50 required hospital treatment. Videos of the incident showed the vehicle ploughing into pedestrians as they walked home from the celebrations on May 26.
Doyle was originally charged with two counts of wounding with intent, against Simon Nash, 52 and an 11-year-old boy; two charges of inflicting grievous bodily harm with intent on Christine Seeckts, 66, and Susan Passey, 77; two charges of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm on Ethan Gillard, 18 and a 17-year-old boy who cannot be named.
He also faces one charge of dangerous driving. This brings the total number of charges against him to 31. The identities of the eight children, including one girl and seven boys, are protected by a court anonymity order. Judge Andrew Menary adjourned his plea hearing until September 4 when Doyle will be produced in the dock. He is scheduled to face a trial, lasting three to four weeks, on November 24 this year.
