‘Enraged’ ex-marine shouted ‘get out the f***ing manner’ and referred to as Liverpool followers ‘p****s’ as he ploughed his automobile into crowd, courtroom hears

A former Royal Marine shouted ‘get out the f***ing way’ as Liverpool fans were flung onto his car bonnet when he accelerated into them, a court heard today.

Paul Doyle ploughed into the crowd ‘in a rage’ in Liverpool city centre on May 26 during seven minutes of chaos following the Premier League victory celebration.

The 54-year-old ‘lost his temper’ and ‘intended to cause serious harm’ when he drove into more than 100 fans after the parade, Liverpool Crown Court was told.

This morning, dashcam footage showing the shocking moments when Doyle ploughed through the crowds was shown in court during his sentencing hearing.

The video, from inside the Ford Galaxy, captured audio and visuals as he swerved into fans making their way back from the city’s waterfront after the celebration.

Doyle, who admitted 31 offences related to the crash at the same court last month, had been heading into the city centre from his home in Croxteth to collect friends.

The footage showed him driving through the centre. Doyle closed his eyes and put his head down, crying, as the video was shown – and victims in the court were in tears.

Once in Dale Street – which was open to traffic but busy with supporters – Doyle could be heard saying ‘f***ing p****s’ as pedestrians pulled their children out of the way of his car to stop them being hit.

The view through his windscreen showed him approach a line of cars waiting to turn right off the road before it becomes Water Street.

Doyle then swerved away from the traffic and into the left lane, which was closed as hundreds of fans were making their way back from the celebrations.

He could be heard shouting and screaming ‘move’, ‘f***ing pricks’ and ‘get out the f***ing way’ as shocked members of the public tried to jump out of the way of his car.

The footage, which will not be released by the authorities because of its graphic nature, showed the windscreen smash after a man landed on it.

Others could be seen on the bonnet of the car as Doyle continued to drive and people, including children, appear to go under the vehicle.

Earlier today, Doyle cried as he appeared in the dock at the start of his sentencing hearing – holding a tissue in his hand which he put up to his face at times.

Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, began the hearing by explaining how Doyle drove dangerously and frightened people from an early stage of his journey.

He said Doyle was driving his grey Ford Galaxy Titanium from his home in Croxteth into central Liverpool to pick up friends who had attended the parade on April 27.

Doyle’s vehicle weighed nearly two tonnes. Mr Greaney said the road was extremely busy with pedestrians on what should have been a day of joy.

He said: ‘The defendant drove the Galaxy on to Dale Street at 5.54pm and began to travel in the direction of Water Street, so on a course opposite from the direction of travel of most of the fans, and towards them.

‘From an early stage, Paul Doyle drove dangerously along that road, frightening people as he did so. Then at 5.59pm, he encountered some traffic implementation measures that were filtering vehicles off to the right.

‘He came to halt, but shortly afterwards set off down the left side of Dale Street towards Water Street, ignoring the measures.’

Mr Greaney added that Doyle’s actions ‘generated horror in those who had attended what they had thought would be a day of joyfulness’.

He said: ‘By 6.01pm, so less than two minutes later, the Galaxy was stationary on Water Street and attempts were being made by fans to drag Paul Doyle from it.

‘He was quickly protected by police officers, and thereafter arrested and detained, having sustained only minor injuries.

‘What had happened in that short period between 5.59pm and 6.01pm is that the defendant had driven his vehicle into a collision with well over 100 people, causing injuries including serious injuries to many and, when the vehicle was brought to a halt, people including children were trapped beneath it.

‘The prosecution case is that the defendant had used the vehicle as a weapon over that period of time.

‘In doing so, he not only caused injury on a large scale, but also generated horror in those who had attended what they had thought would be a day of joyfulness.’

Mr Greaney then told the court that Doyle was not driven by ideology, adding: ‘This was, it should be categorically stated, not a terrorist attack.’

He said police had excluded any problem with the vehicle and at the time of the crash Doyle was ‘completely sober and free of all drugs’.

When interviewed, he said, Doyle claimed he acted in a ‘blind panic and in fear of his life’ because of how some of the crowd behaved, but the position of the prosecution was that the account was ‘untrue’.

Mr Greaney said: ‘The truth is a simple one – Paul Doyle just lost his temper in his desire to get to where he wanted to get to. In a rage, he drove into the crowd. When he did so, he intended to cause people within the crowd serious harm.

‘He was prepared to cause those in the crowd, even children, serious harm if necessary to achieve his aim of getting through.

‘The truth is as simple as the consequences that day were awful.’

Mr Greaney also said Doyle ‘did what he did intentionally’, adding that he was 53 at the time and an experienced driver of 25 years.

He had been the registered keeper of his Ford Galaxy Titanium since March 2023 and ‘was entirely familiar with its controls’, Mr Greaney said.

He told the court there were no defects with the vehicle and nothing to prevent Doyle stopping if he had wanted to.

Mr Greaney said: ‘Where this leaves us is that nothing which occurred can be explained to any extent on the basis of immaturity of age, inexperience in driving generally, unfamiliarity with the vehicle or any defect with the Galaxy.

‘Furthermore, the footage demonstrates that the defendant was conscious throughout, so a medical explanation can be discounted.

‘The upshot of all of this is, as the defendant has now accepted, that he did what he did intentionally.’

Doyle had made the journey into the centre of Liverpool earlier in the day to drop off a friend and his family at the parade and had agreed to pick them up again at the end of the celebrations, the court heard.

Mr Greaney said: ‘That the defendant was initially motivated that day by kindness only serves to make what he did later the more staggering.’

The seven-mile journey from Doyle’s home to the centre of Liverpool was ‘perfectly ordinary, even mundane’, Mr Greaney said.

The drive into the city centre took him along Dale Street, so Doyle was ‘well aware’ of the traffic management measures in place.

Having dropped off his friend, Doyle set off home but drove in a ‘markedly more aggressive way’, jumping lanes and undertaking other vehicles.

Mr Greaney KC said Doyle left his home to collect his friend, Dave Clark, from the city centre at 5.29pm and drove ‘aggressively’.

The prosecutor told the court: ‘How he drove the Galaxy at that stage was dangerous.’

‘He routinely engaged in the undertaking of other vehicles and ran a red light.’

The court was shown dashcam footage of the journey, including Doyle’s dangerous movements.

Doyle exchanged messages with his friend during the journey and at one point Mr Clark told him he might find the area they were in, Castle Street, blocked, the court heard.

Footage showed Doyle undertaking a series of vehicles and coming close to pedestrians as he approached a roundabout before he turned onto Dale Street.

Mr Greaney said that as Doyle’s vehicle entered Dale Street, an ambulance was ahead of him, trying to reach a member of the public who had collapsed with a suspected cardiac arrest.

He told the court someone moved some traffic cones so the ambulance could drive to the left of the queueing traffic, and Doyle drove through the same gap a short time later.

Dashcam footage played in court showed Doyle following behind a bus, then drifting out to the right to see whether he could make progress, and undertaking a black Kia vehicle.

He remained in the right lane, continuing to pass the traffic to his left, the court heard.

Mr Greaney said a black Mercedes with a 74 plate indicated to turn right ahead of Doyle, but was unable to do so because of the volume of pedestrians.

The prosecutor said: ‘Even by this stage the defendant was plainly impatient. He started to use the horn on his vehicle, calling (his friend) as he did so.’

Doyle, wearing a black suit and grey tie with white shirt, shook his head at times as Mr Greaney was speaking.

More than 30 victims were in court for the hearing, with others in another room in the building.

Doyle was arrested at the scene on Water Street just after 6pm and charged later that week.

The youngest victim was six-month-old Teddy Eveson, whose parents later told media he was thrown about 15 feet down the road in his pram when the crash happened.

Doyle, of Croxteth, Liverpool, admitted attempting to cause grievous bodily harm to the baby.

Five other children, who Doyle either injured or attempted to injure, cannot be named for legal reasons.