Paul Doyle had been known as a 'role model father' with a 'heart of gold' before that fateful night which saw more than 100 people injured.
23:46, 27 Nov 2025
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The scene of the crash(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The wife of the Liverpool parade crash driver knew exactly what he'd done when she saw her car plastered across TV. Paul Doyle, 54, yesterday pled guilty to 31 charges in relation to the horror crash which saw 134 people injured.
Not a football fan himself, Doyle, from a quiet cul-de-sac in West Derby, wasn't fussed about joining the celebrations. He did, however, agreed to drop off a friend and his family in town so they could join in before going back to collect them, reports the Mirror.
It was exactly what neighbours expected of the family man. "Paul, being Paul, the good guy he was, he'd have offered to collect them," a neighbour said. But the former Marine would never make it back home.
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Liverpool's players celebrate with the Premier League trophy during an open-top bus victory parade(Image: AFP via Getty Images)
Described as a "friendly family man", "role model father," and "nice lad", no one could have guessed what would happen next. Instead of driving back to his family residence in Croxteth, he drove onto a cordoned-off street filled with Liverpool supporters trying to make their way home.
Doyle seemingly lost his temper and deliberately rammed into the crowd, leaving hundreds injured - including two babies and six other children.
The horror began shortly after 6pm on Liverpool's Water Street. A silver Ford Galaxy Titanium belonging to Doyle's wife mounted the pavement and hurtled through the crowd.
Dozens of people were struck as the vehicle ploughed on for a distance of around 50 metres. The oldest victim, a 77-year-old woman, suffered multiple fractures after being trapped under Doyle's car with an 11-year-old boy and two others. Doyle was arrested at the scene.
Videos and photos of the terrifying carnage soon spread on social media and news reports of the huge incident were emblazoned across all TV networks.
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Paul Doyle(Image: PA)
Doyle's unsuspecting wife found out what had happened when she saw the footage. "She [the wife] first realised when she saw it was her car on the telly, when she saw it being driven at the parade," a source told The Sun.
"The normal police cars turned up at teatime then Matrix van turned up later that night." It's understood that, when neighbours first saw the police van turn up outside the family home, they assumed the Doyles had been victims of a burglary.
The attack left the city in complete shock, as well as those who knew Doyle. In his local community, he was known as a man who attended church, consoled those struggling with grief with gifts, and was always offering to help out with jobs.
One neighbour, who asked not to be named, told our sister title the Liverpool Echo how he was seen as "Mr Healthy Dude." He said: "He meditates, doesn't drink and he would go out on the grass outside in his bare feet to ground himself. He was a fit guy. He hasn't drunk for as long as I have known him."
"Shocked, stunned," said another neighbour in West Derby. "I know everyone's reg [car registration plate] in the street, so as soon as I saw the images within seconds, I seen him, I said that's his f****** car, on the f****** TV. My heart just sank, I couldn't believe it," they told The Independent. The neighbour said he knocked on the Doyle family's door to check with his wife, who is reportedly a school teacher. "I said, 'Surely his car has been pinched and stolen or something'," he said. "She burst out crying."
Described as a "genuinely nice" man with a "heart of gold," dashcam footage and CCTV recordings from the carnage showed the dad getting "increasingly" annoyed at the crowd, suggesting, said prosecutors, a "calculated" act of aggression rather than a "momentary lapse".
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(Image: PA)
CPS Mersey-Cheshire Chief Crown Prosecutor Sarah Hammond said in a statement this morning that Doyle "deliberately drove at" members of the public, "forcing his way through" the crowd after becoming visibly frustrated.
The prosecutor said: "By entering guilty pleas, Doyle has finally accepted that he intentionally drove into crowds of innocent people during Liverpool FC 's victory parade. Dashcam footage from Doyle's vehicle shows that as he approached Dale Street and Water Street, he became increasingly agitated by the crowds.
"Rather than wait for them to pass, he deliberately drove at them, forcing his way through. 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." It was "sheer luck" that no one was killed in the city centre attack, according to police.
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Doyle had been expected to claim in court that his actions had been a result of fear and panic, and that he never intended to hurt anyone. But at the 11th hour, just before he was due to stand trial, he pled guilty to all charges, admitting that he deliberately drove into the crowd on that horrific day.
The dad-of-three's voice cracked as he pleaded guilty, wiping away his tears as he admitted to dangerous driving, affray, 17 charges of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, nine counts of causing GBH with intent and three counts of wounding with intent.
Doyle will be sentenced next month, and has been warned that he is facing a lengthy jail sentence.