A UK man has admitted deliberately driving into a Liverpool FC victory parade, injuring 134 people including children, after changing his plea during his trial.
LIVERPOOL: A British man has changed his plea and admitted deliberately driving his car into crowds at Liverpool Football Club’s Premier League victory parade in May.
Paul Doyle, wearing a suit and glasses, sobbed in the dock as he entered guilty pleas to all 31 charges on the second day of his trial.
The charges included causing grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding with intent, affray and dangerous driving during the May 26 incident in Liverpool city centre.
According to Merseyside Police, Doyle injured 134 people including infants, children and adults when he drove his Ford Galaxy Titanium into scores of people leaving the parade.
Fifty people required hospital treatment following the incident, though there were no fatalities.
The victims had been celebrating Liverpool claiming a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title after the Premier League season ended the previous day.
Hundreds of thousands of fans had lined the city’s waterfront to watch players parade the trophy, with some central roads closed to normal traffic.
Sarah Hammond, the Crown Prosecution Service’s top regional prosecutor, said Doyle had “finally accepted that he intentionally drove into crowds of innocent people”.
She noted dashcam footage showed Doyle became “increasingly agitated by the crowds” and “rather than wait for them to pass, he deliberately drove at them, forcing his way through”.
“This was not a momentary lapse by Paul Doyle — it was a choice he made that day and it turned celebration into mayhem,” Hammond added.
Police swiftly declared the incident was not terrorism, though the circumstances of the attack have remained largely unclear.
The criminal charges related to 29 victims, including eight who were children at the time, with the youngest being six months old.
Judge Andrew Menary told Doyle to prepare for “a custodial sentence of some length” during the hearing.
Father-of-three Doyle, who has been in custody since his arrest, will remain in prison ahead of his sentencing over two days starting December 15.
Doyle, from a Liverpool suburb and reportedly a former Royal Marine, had originally been charged with seven offences before 24 new counts were added to the indictment in August.
