“The city of Liverpool wished to celebrate the club’s achievement, and a parade was therefore arranged for the 26th of May 2025, the spring bank holiday.
“This was to involve the players and staff travelling in an open top bus on a route that started at Allerton Maze in South Liverpool at 2.30pm and travelled through the suburbs of the city before ending outside the Liver Building on the Strand, next to the River Mersey, at an estimated time of 5.30 pm.
“Hundreds of thousands of people, probably in fact about a million in total, attended to watch and cheer. And to begin with, this was a day of great joy.
“Although estimated to arrive at the Liver Building at 5.30pm, the open top bus in fact arrived there 10 minutes later at 5.40pm.
“Following its arrival, many of those who had waited on the Strand to cheer began to walk up Water Street towards Dale Street in order to make their way home. And the road therefore became extremely busy with pedestrians who were spread across both pavements and the road.
“As the parade was finishing, the defendant, Paul Doyle, was driving his grey Ford Galaxy Titanium from his home in Croxteth into central Liverpool in order to pick up friends who had attended the parade. His vehicle weighed nearly two tonnes.
“The defendant drove the Galaxy onto Dale Street at 5.54pm and began to travel in the direction of Water Street, so on a course opposite from the direction of travel of most of the fans and towards them.
“From an early stage, Paul Doyle drove dangerously along that road, frightening people as he did so. Then at 5.59pm, he encountered some traffic implementation measures that were filtering vehicles off to the right. He came to halt, but, shortly afterwards, set off down the left side of Dale Street towards Water Street, ignoring the measures.
“By 6.01pm, so less than two minutes later, the Galaxy was stationary on Water Street, and attempts were being made by fans to drag Paul Doyle from it. He was quickly protected by police officers, and thereafter arrested and detained, having sustained only minor injuries.”
