A driver who injured nearly 80 people when his car rammed into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans celebrating their team’s Premier League championship was charged Thursday with intentionally causing grievous bodily harm and six other serious counts, a prosecutor said.
Paul Doyle, 53, was also charged with dangerous driving and five other counts alleging different variations of causing grievous bodily harm, Prosecutor Sarah Hammond said.
Police said 79 people were injured in the attack, with at least 50 treated at hospitals. They ranged in age from 9 to 78. Seven people remained in the hospital in stable condition.
The charges did not indicate how many victims the counts were tied to and Hammond and Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims of Merseyside Police did not take questions in a brief news conference in Liverpool.
“I fully understand how this incident has left us all shocked and saddened, and I know many will continue to have concerns and questions,” Sims said. “Our detectives are working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism to seek the answer to all of those questions.”
The city had been celebrating Liverpool’s record-tying 20th title when the driver turned down a street full of fans and joy quickly turned to tragedy.
Police said they believed Doyle dodged a road block by tailing an ambulance responding to a report of a person in cardiac arrest.
Eyewitness video showed scenes of horror as the car struck and tossed a person in the air who was draped in a Liverpool flag and then swerved into a sea of people packed on the side of the road.
Merseyside Police said the driver was believed to have acted alone and they did not suspect terrorism.
