Paul Doyle shouted “move”, “f****** pricks” and “get out the f****** way” as he ploughed his car into Liverpool football fans during an expletive-laden rampage, horrifying footage has revealed.
Dashcam footage from Doyle’s car shows pedestrians pulling their children out of the vehicle’s path as the former Royal Marine drove “in a rage” through crowds celebrating Liverpool’s Premier League title win.
The disturbing recording also shows a man landing on the car’s windscreen, causing it to smash. Prosecutors said the “anger had completely taken hold of him” when he used the Ford Galaxy – which weighed nearly two tonnes – “as a weapon”, injuring more than 130 people.
Doyle cried, lowered his head and shut his eyes as the footage, recorded between 5.59pm and 6.01pm on 26 May, was played at Liverpool Crown Court on the first day of the two-day hearing. Victims in court were also in tears as the video was played.
Here is a timeline of how Doyle’s actions turned a day of celebration into one of the darkest days of the city’s history, according to the shocking footage.
5.29pm
Doyle left his home to collect his friend, Dave Clark, from the city centre at 5.29pm and was seen driving “aggressively”. He routinely engaged in undertaking other vehicles and ran a red light before turning onto Dale Street.
5.52pm
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.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC 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.
Despite the busy crowds, Doyle chose to press on down Dale Street, becoming “a cause of concern to pedestrians”, including a person with a buggy and a child.
“The strong sense from the dashcam footage is that the defendant regarded himself as the most important person on Dale Street, and considered that everyone else needed to get out of his way so that he could get to where he wanted to get to,” Mr Greaney said.
5.58pm
As Doyle “persisted” through the crowd, he “continued to cause concern to pedestrians in the road”, with dashcam images showing a man, who was walking with a child, place his foot on the bumper of the car to “protect” the youngster.
Doyle can be heard on dashcam footage shouting: “It’s a f******* road.”
Mr Greaney said: “The prosecution case is that Paul Doyle was starting to lose his temper at this stage, even if he had not already lost it.
Pedestrians began to bang on the roof of Doyle’s vehicle and parents began to drag their children from his path, with the defendant heard shouting “f****** p*****” a number of times.
5.59pm
Footage of the moments Doyle drove into the crowd was shown to the court from a number of different cameras and angles.
The prosecutor said Doyle could be heard shouting “get off the f****** road, you f****** p****” as he drove.
Mr Greaney said: “He was, the prosecution says, a man out of control.”
He said Doyle put his car into reverse after remaining stationary for a short period on Dale Street, and moved back sharply into the crowd behind, causing one member of the public to punch the vehicle and another to kick it.
Mr Greaney said: “He then pulled forward before reversing sharply again into the man [who] was kicking the vehicle. He was using the Galaxy as a weapon.”
He said someone opened the driver’s door and a clear plastic cup was thrown, but Doyle was able to pull the door closed and then began to move forward into the “dense” crowd.
Someone punched through the back window and a camping chair was thrown in, the court heard.
The first person struck by the vehicle was Jack Trotter, who attempted to get out of the way but was hit by the Galaxy, causing an injury to his leg.
Doyle then hit a group of five people, including Jon Evans, who was thrown onto the bonnet as Doyle was shouting “f****** move”.
He also knocked over a female police officer as well as another group of people as he turned into Water Street, before hitting a 10-year-old girl who fortunately only suffered minor injuries.
One group of people hit by Doyle included a woman who suffered a serious fracture of her right knee, a 13-year-old boy, a paramedic on a bicycle, and a 60-year-old woman.
Sheree Aldridge was struck while pushing her five-month-old son Teddy Eveson in a pram alongside her partner Daniel Eveson, causing the pram to be thrown into the air.
6.01pm
During the final 16 seconds, “hero” Daniel Barr was able to enter the passenger side and was able to move the gear selector into “park” mode.
He held it there as “hard as he could”, and the Galaxy was eventually brought to a halt despite Barr keeping his foot on the accelerator.
Upon stopping, 77-year-old Susan Passey, an 11-year-old boy and teenagers Aaron Cothliff and Ethan Gilland were all trapped under the car.
The crowd was “unsurprisingly highly hostile” towards Doyle, and he suffered minor injuries after blows were delivered. He was arrested at the scene and taken into custody.
