A man who stopped Paul Doyle in his tracks as he mowed into a crowd of Liverpool FC fans has been branded a 'hero' for his incredible act of bravery. Now he's revealed what happened when he climbed into the car
The man whose heroic efforts stopped Paul Doyle after he injured 134 fans at the Liverpool FC victory parade has told how the dad-of-three kept repeating one question during his violent fit of rage. Hero squaddie Dan Barr bravely crawled into Doyle's car as he rammed it into the celebratory crowd, and forced him to finally stop.
On his way to meet his brother for a pint after the huge victory parade, Dan, 41, who spent eight years in the Royal Engineers and served in Iraq, described the moment he saw Doyle's car drive into the thick crowd of pedestrians. His victims ranged in age from six-month-old Teddy Eveson, whose pram was knocked to the ground, to 77-year-old Susan Passey who was trapped under the wheels of the car.
Dashcam footage from the vehicle showed the shocking moments when fans were thrown onto the bonnet of the car or fell underneath as he accelerated down a closed road filled with Liverpool fans. On camera, he could be saying "f****** pricks" as people pulled their children out of the way to prevent him hitting them. People could be seen on the bonnet of his car and falling underneath as Doyle accelerated into the street.
Doyle sobbed in the dock as he heard evidence
Doyle sobbed in the dock as he heard evidence(Image: PA)
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Doyle's car was only brought to a stop when Dan climbed into the back seat of the automatic vehicle and held the gearstick in park mode. Recalling how Doyle was acting as he crashed into people, he said he was "calmer" than you'd expect, adding: "I remember getting the vibe when I got in the car that this is a family car.
"I got dad vibes off him, not because of what he was doing, by the way, I just mean the setup and everything. I remember him repeating something. It was something along the lines of "Why won't they move out my way?’ I'm not sure if he was asking me or he was just repeating it over and over as he was driving through the crowd."
Daniel Barr
Daniel Barr brought Doyle's car to a halt
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Detectives have said they believe Doyle might not have noticed Mr Barr jumping into the vehicle. The 41-year-old, who suffered cuts to his head following a "scuffle" with the driver, said he only did what most other people on the street were trying to do. He said: |I don't think it's anything special. I know it sounds mad. It hasn't sunk in. Maybe it never will, but I'll do it again."
The labourer, who served for eight years in the Royal Engineers including in Iraq, said he saw the "opportunity" to get in when Doyle's Ford Galaxy stopped with the rear passenger door about five paces away from him. He said: "My intention was to punch the window through. Although this was a split second, there was other people around the car, and they were desperately, desperately, and rightfully so, trying to get in.
"So I ran up to that window with the full intention of punching it, whatever use that would do, because I assumed that all the doors were locked and that's why nobody could get in and they were punching it. Just at the final moment I tried the door and it opened."
Mr Barr, from Birkenhead, Wirral, crawled into the back seat and said once he was in the car Doyle accelerated away, causing the rear door to slam shut with the force. His memory of his time in the car is "blurry" but he said he remembered the contrast between the screaming, shouting and panic on the street and relative silence inside.
In court today, he said the experience had brought his past trauma as a soldier to the surface, and that he has since become angry and withdrawn. In his statement, he said that he had kept the "high pressure, traumatic and dangerous situations| from his tours of Iraq "under wraps" for years.
"But since that day it has brought everything to the surface, and I find I can no longer put a mask on and carry on as normal," he said. "I am angry when I go to bed. I don't sleep very well, if at all. I wake up angry. Big things don't bother me, but little things do. I am quick to anger and slow to hide it. I avoid socialising and I am more withdrawn, and I avoid working in teams as I struggle to take on board the simplest of instructions and patiently deal with colleagues. I forget appointments and having a timing to keep to stresses me out, and I can't focus on anything else that day.
"Because of all of this I have taken some time out of work, which has now financially impacted me. I am behind on payments, so I am only just keeping my head above water." Mr Barr said his family had noticed a change in him and appeared to be "walking on eggshells" around him. "I generally feel no sense of purpose and don't know what to do, and this is without having fully come to terms with what happened that day,” he added. Prosecutors say if it hadn't been for Mr Barr's actions, there would "probably have been more casualties".
Today Doyle was jailed for 21 years and six months for the horrific crime, which his own dashcam recorded. He admitted 31 offences against 21 adults and eight children following his crazed driving at the parade. These included 17 counts of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm and nine of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC formally commended Mr Barr for his bravery, saying today: "His actions on that day were outstandingly brave. At a moment when many understandably feared for their own safety, he ran towards the danger, entered a moving vehicle and brought it to a halt, thereby preventing further injury and quite possibly saving lives."
He made a High Sheriff's Award for Bravery and a monetary award of £250 in appreciation of his "exceptional courage and presence of mind."