Doyle

A man accused of “using his car as a weapon” by deliberately driving into crowds of Liverpool FC fans has pleaded not guilty to 31 charges.

More than 130 people, including eight children, were injured when a Ford Galaxy car struck pedestrians on Water Street in Liverpool City Centre, as fans celebrated the club’s Premier League victory parade on 26 May.

Former Royal Marine Commando Paul Doyle, 53, faces charges including causing grievous bodily harm with intent and dangerous driving.

He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court via videolink from prison where he answered “not guilty” as each of the charges were put to him.

The allegations against Mr Doyle, of Burghill Road in West Derby, Liverpool, relate to 29 victims, including two babies.

The court heard his legal team had faced significant difficulties being allowed access to their client in prison, facing weeks-long waits to visit him in person or hold conferences over videolink.

Simon Csoka, KC, defending, said: “The system just isn’t working.”

He also said Belmarsh Prison had still not arranged for Mr Doyle to be given a laptop in custody so he could view CCTV footage and other digital evidence.

Mr Csoka said the prison’s approach had been “incomprehensible” and the defence had faced “impenetrable red tape” in getting a laptop to Mr Doyle.

Mr Doyle, who was sitting in a videolink booth wearing a grey t-shirt, wiped tears from his eyes as Mr Csoka described the problems the defence had faced.

He is charged with dangerous driving, affray, 18 counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, nine counts of causing GBH with intent and two counts of wounding with intent.

The youngest victim is six months old, while the oldest is 77.

Judge Andrew Menary KC said there would be a pre-trial review hearing on 27 October.

The trial was delayed by a day to 25 November, he told the court.

Paul Doyle has appeared in court accused of driving his car into a crowd of people after Liverpool FC’s trophy parade.

The former Royal Marine, 53, faces seven charges including wounding with intent, causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, attempting to cause GBH with intent and dangerous driving.

A total of 79 people were injured on Water Street in the city centre just before 18:00 BST on Monday.

The father-of-three of Burghill Road in West Derby, Liverpool, was escorted into the dock at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court wearing a black suit, grey tie and white shirt.

Mr Doyle appeared emotional as he spoke quietly only to confirm his date of birth and age.

For much of the hearing, he sat in the dock with his head down, listening to proceedings.

None of his family or friends chose to attend court today. The defendant stood with his head down as the charges were read to him.

Mr Doyle was not asked to enter a plea. District Judge Paul Healey confirmed he has imposed a number of reporting restrictions.

Richard Derby, defending, confirmed there will be no application for bail today.

Hundreds of thousands of jubilant Liverpool fans packed the city centre on Bank Holiday Monday and lined the 10-mile (16km) parade route as Liverpool FC celebrated winning their second Premier League crown and 20th top-flight league title.

A pram carrying a baby boy was hit by a car and spun metres down the street after it was hit, but the child was not hurt.

A fundraising campaign set up for those affected by the incident has raised more than £30,000, including a £10,000 donation from ex-player Jamie Carragher’s charity foundation.

Mr Doyle will next appear at Liverpool Crown Court this afternoon for a hearing before the Recorder of Liverpool, Judge Andrew Menary KC.

A former Royal Marine has arrived at court where he will face charges over the Liverpool parade crash in which 79 people were injured.

Paul Doyle, 53, from Burghill Road in West Derby, was arrested on Monday, when a car ploughed into fans at Liverpool’s Premier League victory celebration, Merseyside Police said.

A nine-year-old was among those hurt when the car hit supporters on Water Street at 18:00 BST.

Mr Doyle, a local businessman and father of three, faces multiple counts of causing and attempting to cause unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent as well as one of dangerous driving and two of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent.

Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims, of Merseyside Police, told a news conference seven people remain in hospital after the incident.

The BBC has spoken to the suspect’s neighbours, who said they were shocked and in “disbelief”.

They said that Burghill Road was swarming with police in the hours after the crash.

One said: “I came out late on Monday night and there’s police everywhere. Looking around all the houses, so I had a thought – imagine if it was him?”

Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims said detectives were reviewing a “huge volume” of CCTV and mobile phone footage.

Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for Crown Prosecution Service in the Mersey-Cheshire region, said this included footage from CCTV, mobile phones, businesses and dashcams, along with witness statements.

She said the charges “will be kept under review” while the investigation progresses.

“It is important to ensure every victim gets the justice they deserve,” she added.

Mr Doyle has been charged with seven offences, which can be broken down into four groups.

The first includes two counts of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) – one of these is an alleged offence against one child.

The second is two counts of causing unlawful and malicious GBH with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

According to the Sentencing Council, it relates to the nature of the injury allegedly caused.

GBH does not require an open wound to have been suffered. Wounding requires the victim’s skin to have been broken.

Mr Doyle also faces two charges of attempted unlawful and malicious GBH with intent to cause GBH, and again one of these alleged offences relates to a child.

The final count is dangerous driving.

Police confirmed the ages of those injured in the incident ranged from nine to 78.

Assistant Chief Constable Sims, said she understood many have questions about the incident, and detectives were “working tirelessly, with diligence and professionalism, to seek the answer to all of those questions”.

“When we are able to, we will provide further information,” she added.