Parade crash driver Paul Doyle bit man’s ear off in pub struggle as darkish aspect emerges
Paul Doyle was described as ‘a nice guy’ by neighbours after he mowed down fans during Liverpool’s victory parade – but in court today his dark past came back to haunt him
Liverpool parade driver Paul Doyle’s dark past has come back to haunt him in court. During his sentencing hearing at Liverpool Crown Court, the prosecution revealed he had bitten a man’s ear off in a pub fight.
Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, said Doyle was jailed for 12 months in November 1994 for causing grievous bodily harm after biting off the ear of another man in a fight in July the previous year.
When he was interviewed by police earlier this year after the parade incident, he said he had become involved in a drunken fight with sailors.
The final previous offences he was convicted of before his guilty pleas last month were a minor offence of dishonesty and breach of the peace in Scotland in December 1993, the court heard.
Mr Greaney said between the ages of 18 and 22 Doyle was convicted of offences, including serious violence.
He said: “The prosecution recognises that in the 30 years between his release from prison in May 1995 and his dreadful actions on May 26 2025, the defendant had taken steps to live a positive and productive life.
“During that period, he was convicted of no offences. He went to university. He worked, including in positions of responsibility.
“He had a family. Those efforts to rehabilitate himself after a difficult early adulthood only serve to make more shocking and tragic what he did in Liverpool that day this May.”
Doyle cried in the dock as Mr Greaney spoke.
Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told Liverpool Crown Court Paul Doyle enlisted in the Royal Marines at age 19, after a short period in the Royal Engineers.
He signed up for 22 years’ service but was discharged in January 1993, 22 months after enlisting.
Doyle did not see active service and was discharged on a basis that his services were no longer required, the court heard.
Mr Greaney said Doyle had both civilian and service convictions.
When Doyle was in the Royal Engineers in 1989, he committed a military offence equated to common assault and was give seven days’ detention, he said.
The court heard in March the following year, aged 18, Doyle was fined for a minor offence of dishonesty.
In October 1991, at the end of Paul Doyle’s 32-week training period for the Royal Marines at the Commando Training Centre in Lympstone, Devon, he had what he later described as a “scuffle” with men in a nightclub.
He said after he was thrown out, the men were waiting for him and he “got the better of them”.
He punched another person in the face several times and was convicted of a section 20 assault and fined by Exeter Magistrates’ Court.
In February 1992, he was convicted of two military offences – one of using violence to a superior officer and one of conduct to the prejudice of good order and military discipline – and in July that year he was convicted of a military offence equivalent to criminal damage, the court heard.
In the aftermath of the crash, Doyle’s neighbours had described the married dad as nothing more than a friendly man.
One neighbour, who wished to remain anonymous, told the ECHO that Doyle was known locally as “Mr Healthy Dude.”
At the time, they said: “He meditates, doesn’t drink and he would go out on the grass outside in his bare feet to ground himself. He was a fit guy. He hasn’t drunk for as long as I have known him.”
They further added: “My perception of Paul is a family man, a really good neighbour, a friendly guy.”
Another neighbour added: “The family are lovely, no one has a bad word to say about them.”
For updates on the sentencing hearing, read our live blog.
