Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on November 26, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 20, 2026
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Paul Doyle pleaded guilty to 31 charges after driving into a crowd at Liverpool's soccer parade, injuring over 130 people, including children.
LONDON (Reuters) -A British man who injured more than 130 people by ploughing his car into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans during May's Premier League victory parade pleaded guilty on Wednesday to 31 charges, including nine of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Paul Doyle sobbed in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court as he changed his pleas to guilty on the first day of what was due to be his trial. He had pleaded not guilty in September.
Doyle repeatedly broke down in tears as the 31 charges were read to him, simply saying in response: "Guilty." He will be sentenced next month.
He also pleaded guilty to 17 counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm, three counts of wounding with intent, affray and dangerous driving.
The Crown Prosecution Service said dashcam footage from Doyle's vehicle showed that he had become increasingly agitated by the crowds before he deliberately drove at people, injuring 134 including eight children, one as young as six months.
POLICE SAY 'SHEER LUCK' NO ONE KILLED
About a million people came out to celebrate Liverpool's title win in the city centre, watching an open-top bus parade featuring the team and its staff with the Premier League trophy.
Liverpool had last won the Premier League in the 2019/20 season, but were unable to have a public celebration in May 2020 due to COVID-19 restrictions.
Shortly after the Liverpool team had passed in their bus, however, Doyle drove his Ford Galaxy car into pedestrians before the vehicle stopped and angry fans converged on it.
Sarah Hammond, Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Mersey-Cheshire, said the incident "struck at the heart of a city united in joy, leaving fear in its wake".
"Driving a vehicle into a crowd is an act of calculated violence. This was not a momentary lapse by Paul Doyle — it was a choice he made that day and it turned celebration into mayhem," she said in a statement.
Detective Chief Inspector John Fitzgerald from Merseyside Police said that "it is only by sheer luck that nobody was killed because of Doyle's reckless actions".
Doyle was warned by Judge Andrew Menary that it was "inevitable" he was facing a lengthy jail term next month.
(Reporting by Sam Tobin,Editing by Sarah Young, Peter Graff and Ed Osmond)
Affray is a legal term referring to a public fight or disturbance that causes fear to bystanders. It is considered a criminal offense and can lead to legal penalties.
Dangerous driving is a criminal offense that involves operating a vehicle in a manner that is reckless or poses a significant risk to others on the road.
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) is the principal public agency for conducting criminal prosecutions in England and Wales. It reviews evidence and decides whether to charge individuals with criminal offenses.
Dashcam footage is video recorded by a camera mounted on a vehicle, typically used to provide evidence in case of accidents or incidents on the road.
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