Man sentenced to 21 years for car ramming of Liverpool parade crowd

by · UPI

Dec. 16 (UPI) -- Paul Doyle, the man convicted of ramming his car into a crowd of FC Liverpool supporters during a victory parade, has been sentenced to 21 years in prison.

Doyle hit 134 people in two minutes, with victims ranging in age from 6 months to 77. More than 50 people were hospitalized after the event on May 26 in Merseyside, England.

He pleaded guilty in November to 17 counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, nine counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, three counts of wounding and one count each of dangerous driving and affray [public brawl].

Judge Andrew Menary said Doyle's actions caused "horror and devastation on a scale not previously experienced by this court," The Guardian reported.

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"You struck people head on, knocked others onto the bonnet, crushed prams and forced others to scatter in terror," the judge said. "You plowed on at speed, violently knocking people aside or running over them, person after person after person."

The parade had about a million people in attendance for "what they thought would be a day of joyfulness," Prosecutor Paul Greaney said.

Doyle, a former Royal Marine, told police that he acted in a "blind panic" and said he feared for his life after seeing a fan with a knife. Detectives disproved this claim. Doyle had a dashcam video that was played in court on which Doyle can be heard raging against people in his way.

Menary said the dash-cam video showed he was not acting in fear or panic but out of "an inexplicable and undiluted fury."

Doyle only stopped because former soldier Dan Barr climbed into his back seat and held the car's shifter in Park, though Doyle kept his foot on the accelerator, court testimony said.

When Doyle was dragged into a police van, he told officers: "I've just ruined my family's life."

Merseyside senior investigating officer Detective Chief Inspector John Fitzgerald said in a statement, "On what should have been a day of celebration for the city, Doyle chose to act in an aggressive and dangerous manner with no regard for the safety and wellbeing of other people."

"No prison sentence will be able to undo his actions on that day or heal those who continue to suffer physically and psychologically as a result of what they endured and witnessed on the streets of the city," Fitzgerald added.

Doyle's attorney Simon Csoska said Doyle was "horrified by what he did, horrified by the consequences of what he did. He's remorseful, ashamed and deeply sorry for all those who were hurt and suffered. He accepts all responsibility, he expects no sympathy."