Liverpool driver loses control in shocking parade attack

Liverpool was in full celebration mode as hundreds of thousands lined the streets to watch the team parade the Premier League trophy—an opportunity they had missed during the pandemic. Doyle had no real interest in the event but agreed to drop a friend and his family in the city centre, and later return to pick them up—something he would soon regret.

Dashcam and CCTV footage showed Doyle driving aggressively even before reaching the crowds: speeding through traffic, overtaking dangerously and running a red light. Prosecutors said he was already agitated, and grew visibly more enraged as the number of people around him increased.

At around 5.54pm, as celebrations were winding down, crowds were moving along Dale Street when Doyle entered the area. Dashcam audio captured him hurling abuse at people walking in the road.

Not long after, an ambulance trying to reach a medical emergency was let through a barrier by a bystander. Doyle followed directly behind, slipping through the gap and entering Dale Street, where his erratic driving shocked onlookers. A woman pushing a pram had to jump clear as he pushed forward into the flow of fans.

As he reached Stanley Street, Doyle drove through another red light, his anger escalating.

Witnesses shouted in disbelief, and one person struck the side of the car. An exchange with a man who placed his foot on the bumper in protest appeared to push Doyle over the edge. "It's a f---ing road," Doyle shouted, before losing all restraint.

While other drivers waited in line, he cut into the right-hand lane and started moving directly toward pedestrians, sounding his horn continuously. People banged on the car roof, pleading with him to stop. Instead, he continued shouting expletives at those he hit. Some members of the crowd kicked the vehicle; one person opened a door, another threw a camping chair through the rear window.

Doyle then struck a pram carrying six-month-old Teddy Eveson, who was thrown several metres but miraculously escaped serious injury. Still forcing his way forward into a no-vehicle zone, he hit more pedestrians, yelling "f---ing move" as he drove. Witnesses scrambled out of his path as he headed toward the Town Hall, striking a teenage girl with his two-ton car.

At one point, he reversed into an ambulance before accelerating again, trapping some victims under the wheels. Despite people suffering severe injuries, Doyle continued driving until a bystander, Daniel Barr, managed to climb into the back of the vehicle and force the gear lever into park.

Prosecutors hailed him as a "hero."

Many witnesses believed they were witnessing a terror attack. "It was like a bomb had gone off," one victim said. "There was carnage everywhere."

As the crowd dragged him from the car, police intervened to prevent him being seriously beaten.

Doyle later claimed he stopped as soon as he realised he had hit someone—a claim prosecutors dismissed as a "bare-faced lie." He also insisted he had feared for his life, suggesting people in the crowd were about to stab him, but investigators found no evidence that anyone was armed.

Once regarded as a quiet, devoted husband and father of three, Doyle had served four years in the Marines before working as a network security manager. A mechanic who had serviced his car recalled photos of Doyle's family displayed proudly on the dashboard, saying he could not reconcile that image with the parade footage.

Doyle is due to be sentenced on December 15. Sarah Hammond, chief crown prosecutor for Mersey-Cheshire, said the convictions offered "a measure of justice for an act that caused unimaginable harm during what should have been a day of celebration for the city of Liverpool." She added: "This was not a momentary lapse—Paul Doyle made a choice that day, and turned celebration into chaos."

The Johnson Partnership, Nottingham