What began as a jubilant celebration for Liverpool FC fans on May 26, 2025, turned into a scene of chaos and horror when Paul Doyle, a 54-year-old family man from Croxteth, Liverpool, used his nearly two-tonne Ford Galaxy as a weapon, plowing through crowds during the Premier League title parade. The shocking events that unfolded between 5:59pm and 6:01pm on Water Street left more than 100 people injured, ranging in age from six months to 78 years old, and stunned a city that had gathered to mark a moment of sporting triumph.
According to Press Association and Liverpool Echo reports, Doyle appeared at Liverpool Crown Court on December 15, 2025, for a two-day sentencing hearing after pleading guilty to 31 offences, including dangerous driving, affray, 17 counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, nine counts of causing GBH with intent, and three counts of wounding with intent. The courtroom was filled with gasps and tears as dashcam footage from Doyle’s vehicle was played, graphically displaying the moment the parade’s joy was shattered by violence.
The footage, described as too graphic to be released to the public, captured Doyle beeping his horn and repeatedly shouting profanities such as “move,” “get out the f****** way,” and other expletives as he accelerated into the packed crowd. The front windscreen of his car was seen to crack upon impact with a man who was thrown onto the bonnet, while other victims—including children—were hurled to the ground or momentarily trapped on the car’s bumper before being flung aside by the force of the vehicle.
Paul Greaney KC, prosecuting, told the court, “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.” Greaney further emphasized, “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 he also generated horror in those who had attended what they had thought would be a day of joyfulness.”
Among the 29 victims named in court was six-month-old Teddy Eveson, who, according to his parents’ account to the media, was thrown about 15 feet down the road in his pram during the crash. Five other children, whose names were withheld for legal reasons, were also among those Doyle either injured or attempted to injure. The list of victims included boys and girls aged seven months, 10, 11, 12, and 13, as well as adults Jack Trotter, Jon Evans, Scott Dolan, Ashton Gilmore, Jacqueline McClaren, Jamie Fagan, Carl Martin, James Vernon, Emily Wright, David Price, James Weston, and Ethan Gillard. Nine adults—Helen Gilmore, Anna Bilonozhenko, Sheree Aldridge, Sam Alexander, Hannah O’Neill, Stefan Dettlaf, Christine Seeckts, Susan Passey, and Aaron Cothliff—were identified as suffering grievous bodily harm with intent. Three further victims, a 12-year-old boy, Simon Nash, and Robin Darke, were wounded with intent.
Fifty casualties required hospital treatment in the aftermath, though all were later discharged, according to Liverpool Echo. The devastating impact of the incident was compounded by the fact that the day was meant to be one of celebration, with families and supporters turning out in droves to cheer their team’s achievement. Instead, parents were seen pulling their children out of the path of Doyle’s car, and the atmosphere turned from festive to frantic in seconds.
Doyle’s motivation for his actions was a central focus of the prosecution’s case. Greaney made it clear to the court that Doyle’s conduct was not the result of terrorism, vehicle malfunction, or intoxication. “At the time of these events, some at the scene thought that what was taking place was a terrorist attack, with the driver utilising a vehicle to attack in a way that has occurred before; for example, during the London Bridge attack on the 3rd of June 2017. That is not what occurred. Paul Doyle’s actions were, the prosecution is entirely satisfied, not driven by ideology. This was, it should be categorically stated, not a terrorist attack.”
Greaney continued, “So, was what happened the result of some defect in the vehicle? Did the brakes fail or the vehicle suddenly accelerate without any intervention by the driver? Paul Doyle has never suggested that happened, and expert investigation by the police has excluded any problem with the vehicle as having caused or contributed to what occurred. So, that is not the explanation.” He also confirmed, “Was Paul Doyle drunk or high on drugs? Again, the prosecution is able to give a definitive answer to that question. He was not. At the time that he drove into and over 100 people, Paul Doyle was completely sober, and free of all drugs.”
Instead, the prosecution argued, 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 were awful.”
During the hearing, Doyle sat with his head bowed in tears as the dashcam footage played, while victims and their families sobbed in the gallery. The emotional toll was palpable, with the video serving as a stark reminder of the incident’s brutality and the lives it disrupted. Prosecutor Greaney remarked, “That the defendant was initially motivated that day by kindness only serves to make what he did later the more staggering.” Doyle had reportedly been in the city to collect a friend and his family from the celebrations.
After the rampage, Doyle was arrested at the scene on Water Street just after 6pm and charged later that week. He had previously denied the offences but changed his pleas to guilty on the day he was due to stand trial. The sentencing hearing, presided over by Judge Andrew Menary KC, was set to conclude on December 16, 2025, with Doyle facing the consequences of actions that turned a day of joy into one of terror and trauma for so many.
The city of Liverpool, while still reeling from the events, has rallied around the victims and their families, determined to reclaim the spirit of community and celebration that was so brutally interrupted. The court’s verdict is awaited with keen interest, as many hope for a sense of justice and closure after an incident that will not soon be forgotten.
