Paul Doyle’s loss of temper on the day of the Liverpool parade attack, described by the sentencing judge as “incomprehensible”, may never be fully explained.
There seemed little cause for the 54-year-old to feel so aggrieved by the crowds blocking the roads as they celebrated at Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade on 26 May.
Whatever the reason, he is now serving a sentence of 21 years and six months after pleading guilty to 31 offences including dangerous driving, affray and causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
This is how Doyle’s increasing aggression on the roads developed into catastrophe over one afternoon, starting at 12:34 BST when a friend who he had agreed to drive to the parade arrived at his home.
PA Media12:34 – Paul Doyle’s friend Dave Clark and his family arrive at his home in Croxteth, Liverpool. The Clark family are Liverpool fans and Doyle, an Everton fan, has agreed to drive them into the city centre to watch the parade.
12:41 – Doyle leaves home with Mr Clark and his family. On the “mundane” journey into the city, they speak about house prices, schools, football, cars, their common work in IT and family matters.
He then drops them off on Exchange Street East, where footage showed him driving calmly and following the traffic measures on Dale Street.
CPS13:35 – Doyle arrives home after dropping his friends off on Exchange Street East. The court heard that while it did not form part of the dangerous driving charge, he “drove in a markedly more aggressive way” on his way home, jumping lanes and undertaking other vehicles.
14:30 – The victory parade starts at Allerton Maze, in the the south of Liverpool.
17:24 – Doyle sends Mr Clark a message asking “how’s it going?” and is told his friend is on Castle Street, close to Dale Street and Water Street.
MerseysidePolice17:29 – Doyle sets off from his house to return to the city centre. He instructs the sat-nav system in his Ford Galaxy car to take him to Castle Street. On the way, he undertakes several cars and runs a red light.
17:40 – The Liverpool FC parade finishes when the buses arrive outside the Liver Building on the waterfront.
17:48 – Mr Clark sends Doyle a message telling him signal is poor. Doyle says he will be at Castle Street in about 10 minutes but does not reply when Mr Clark asks if he wants them to walk anywhere. Mr Clark also tells him he might find the area of Castle Street blocked.
PA Media17:54 – Doyle arrives on Dale Street from Byrom Street, having undertaken a series of other vehicles at traffic lights and gone around a roundabout in the wrong lane, coming close to pedestrians who are crossing the road.
He uses his horn and presses on down the road, despite a dense crowd of fans heading back from the waterfront. He drives through a red light at the junction with Stanley Street.
17:58 – A man walking with his child, who has not been identified, becomes concerned about Doyle’s driving and places his foot on the bumper of the Ford Galaxy as he moves his child out of the way. He points at Doyle, who responds by shouting: “It’s a [expletive] road.”
After this interaction, Doyle continues to drive in the direction of the increasingly worried crowd, some of whom bang on his car roof.
He blasts his car horn and shouts further obscenities. Adults jump out of his way and children are pulled from his path.
ReutersHe initially stops ahead of traffic cones put in place to divert traffic away from Water Street, which is full of fans, but then steers into the left lane.
The first person he hits is Jack Trotter, 23, who attempts to get out of the way but suffers an injury to his leg. He then drives into a group of people who are thrown onto his bonnet. He hits another group of people and then drives into a 10-year-old girl, before shouting “[Expletive] move”.
He carries on down Water Street, striking more people, including Jacqueline McClaren, 60, and paramedic Jay Vernon, 34. He reverses and collides with an ambulance.
Doyle stops for a short time and fans surround his vehicle. One, ex soldier Dan Barr, opens the rear passenger door and gets into the car.
Doyle then accelerates again, hitting Simon Nash, who is thrown into the air. Driving sharply to the right, he hits Sheree Aldridge and the pram she is pushing, carrying six-month-old baby Teddy Eveson.
The pram, with Teddy in, is thrown into the air but the baby is uninjured. Ms Aldridge suffers a serious injury to her left thigh.
From the back of the car, Mr Barr leans forward and holds the automatic gear selector in park mode. Doyle continues to try and accelerate but eventually the car, with four people underneath it, comes to a stop.
18:01 – Doyle is dragged from his vehicle and quickly shielded from the crowd by police officers. In the two minutes since he drove into the crowd, 134 people have been hit.
Doyle pleaded not guilty to 31 charges when he appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on 4 September, with a trial scheduled for November.
Jurors were sworn in on 25 November but he changed his pleas the following day as the prosecution prepared to open its case.
