A man has appeared in court accused of several offences during the Liverpool FC victory parade.
Paul Desmond Sanders Doyle, 53, of Burghill Road, West Derby, is accused of the following:
- Two offences of wounding with intent, contrary to section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861;
- Two offences of causing grievous bodily harm with intent, contrary to section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861;
- Two offences of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, contrary to section 18 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861 and section 1 of the Criminal Attempts Act 1981;
- One offence of dangerous driving, contrary to section 2 of the Road Traffic Act 1988.
The maximum sentence for the section 18 offences in life imprisonment.
The offences are said to have taken place in Water Street, Liverpool, on the afternoon of Monday, 26th May 2025.
Doyle is accused of driving his black people carrier through crowds celebrating Liverpool FC's recent Premier League victory. Footage of the incident showed the vehicle colliding with multiple people.
Doyle appeared in custody at Liverpool Magistrates' Court on Friday, 30th May 2025.
District Judge Paul Healey presided over the hearing. Doyle, who was wearing a black suit, white shirt and grey tie, spoke only to confirm his name, date of birth and address.
Given the severity of the alleged offences, he was not required to entered a plea.
DJ Healey made an order under section 46 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, which prevents the identification of the four adult victims directly implicated in the charges. An order under section 45 prevents the identification of the two child victims directly implicated in the charges.
Matters were sent to Liverpool Crown Court, where Doyle will appear before HHJ Andrew Menary, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool, sometime this afternoon.
Doyle was remanded in custody until that time.
As as aside, I have been asked on X why, despite being initially arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, Doyle has not been charged with that offence.
The likely explanation is that the CPS thinks there is insufficient evidence to support an attempted murder charge.
In order to secure a conviction for attempted murder, the prosecution needs to prove that the defendant intended to cause the unlawful death of the victim. Anything less than absolute intention is insufficient for attempted murder.
Update (30/5/25): Doyle has now appeared at Liverpool Crown Court. There was no application for bail, so consequently he has been remanded in custody until a plea and trial preparation hearing on Thursday, 14th August 2025.
A trial, expected to last 3 or 4 weeks, has been preliminary listed for Monday, 24th November 2025. The venue has not been confirmed, but I would expect it to be somewhere other than Liverpool - with emotions running high in the city, it will be virtually impossible to recruit a local jury.
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