A driver who injured more than 130 people when he crashed his car into a crowd of football fans celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League championship was sentenced to more than 20 years in prison on Tuesday.
Paul Doyle crashed his minivan through a sea of fans on May 26 and stopped after a passerby got into the vehicle and forced him to park. He stopped at the top of the bodies.
“The images are truly shocking,” Judge Andrew Menary said during Doyle’s sentencing at Liverpool Crown Court.
“It is difficult, if not impossible, to convey in words alone the scenes of devastation you have caused.
“It shows you deliberately speeding towards groups of fans, over and over again.“
The hype took place as Liverpool supporters flocked to the streets to get a glimpse of their victorious team. (AP: Jon Great)
Doyle, a former Royal Marine, sobbed during the two days of sentencing as prosecutors detailed the crime, using graphic video footage and reading emotional statements from dozens of victims.
Doyle, 54, pleaded guilty last month to 31 chargesincluding dangerous driving and multiple counts of attempting or inflicting grievous bodily harm and wounding with intent.
“Anger had completely taken over” the attacker, according to the prosecution
Prosecutors said Doyle used his vehicle as a weapon to cross the sea of people marching towards him after the victory parade.
More than a million people watched the open-top bus parade through the streets of Liverpool, the prosecution said.
People who rushed to safety said they feared a terrorist attack was unfolding.
The parade celebrated Liverpool FC winning the Premier League title in the 2024/25 season. (Reuters: Phil Noble)
But the explanation was “as simple as the consequences were horrific”, prosecutor Paul Greaney said. Doyle became angry because he couldn’t get there fast enough to pick up a family friend who had attended the parade.
“He was an angry man, whose anger had taken complete control of him,” Mr Greaney said.
The judge rejected Doyle’s explanation that he panicked, calling it “patently false.”
When Doyle was placed in a police van, he told officers: “I have just ruined my family’s life,” Mr Greaney told the court.
Victims speak of emotional and physical scars
The impact of Doyle’s attack was much wider than his family.
During sentencing, a prosecutor spent hours reading victim impact statements, some still nursing their injuries.
A 16-year-old boy said he was frequently awakened by nightmares related to the event and had lost his apprenticeship as a carpenter because he could not concentrate.
A 23-year-old man said they had to learn to walk again, while a woman from outside the area said the Liverpool accent now triggered anxiety.
Another woman whose daughter was a keen Liverpool supporter could no longer watch her matches.
“The sight of the redshirts and the sound of the chants are unbearable reminders of that day,” Susan Farrell said.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian Anna Bilonozhenko, who fled the Russian invasion and moved to the UK in 2024, said the attack made her feel like she was “losing our security once again”.
AP/Reuters
