Mobile phone footage shows the man being bundled away by a ring of steel keeping the crowds back after a car ploughed into crowds of Liverpool supporters celebrating their win
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14:34, 27 May 2025
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Liverpool: Moment suspect is led away from the scene
A young woman captured the moment the driver of the car allegedly involved in the Liverpool crash carnage was led away surrounded by police. Mobile phone footage shows the man being bundled away by a ring of steel keeping the crowds back. Charlie Connolly, still clearly "traumatised" by what she saw, fought back tears as she spoke to The Mirror. The 23-year-old told how she only filmed from her flat above Water Street to show her boyfriend how huge the crowds were so that he didn't try and get home, fearing for his safety.
READ MORE: Liverpool parade crash updates: Driver 'may have tailgated ambulance' into crowd
The suspect can be seen being led away by police
The suspect can be seen being led away by police
The suspect can be seen being led away by police
She said: “I was videoing it to show my boyfriend the size of the crowd. It was crazy, I’d never seen that many people before. Ten minutes before it happened I said to him ‘it’s so crowded I’m surprised nothing bad has happened’.
“I realised something was happening when the crowds started running to the sides. It was disgusting, he wasn’t stopping and the only reason it stopped was because the bodies were trapped underneath it. “Two people got him out of the car at the start to stop him reversing and and going further. Then the police got him out and protected him.
Charlie was only filming the crowds to show her boyfriend
Charlie was only filming the crowds to show her boyfriend
Charlie was only filming the crowds to show her boyfriend
“The police were holding the suspect and it took seven minutes for them to get him from the car to the van. He was crunched over being carried by police with his head down. “It darkened the day which should have been full of joy.”
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Another eyewitness said the driver looked "agitated".
The car surrounded by Liverpool fans after hitting multiple people
The car surrounded by Liverpool fans after hitting multiple people
(Image: @lawbeau94/X)
Harry Rashid told BBC Radio 5 Live: “He looked kind of emotional, agitated, I don’t know why. His hands were moving about. He was trying to close the door of the car, I think, because they’ve tried to pull the door open and then he was trying to close it.”
He added: “Absolutely I was scared, I’m a human being. You worry for your life don’t you?”
Another witness, named Chelsea, said she jumped out of the way of the car during the incident. She said: “We heard beeping and screaming and as we looked up the car was coming directly for us and for everybody else and we just jumped, I grabbed my friend to jump out the way and she grabbed her daughter, and it just skimmed us.
CCTV captures car driving down Dale Street, Liverpool moments before incident
Other CCTV shows the car squeezing through crowds moments before ploughing into people
(Image: Daily Mirror)
“It must’ve been going about 30mph and then we were just in shock that we just nearly got run over but we didn’t really know the gravity of it at that point and we were just in shock, then we saw everybody chasing the car afterwards with all the windows smashed.”
The parade began at Allerton Maze south of the city before travelling on a 10-mile route over three-and-a-half hours ending with a finale on the Strand in the city centre.
Emergency services descended on Walter Street in the aftermath of the crash
Emergency services descended on Walter Street in the aftermath of the crash
(Image: Getty Images)
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Sadly, the celebration came to an abrupt halt as chaos erupted on Water Street, about a mile before the event's endpoint.
Other CCTV footage obtained by the Mirror sheds new light on the moments before disaster struck.
The video from a mobile phone shop shows the moment the Ford people carrier tries to squeeze through crowds of football supporters moments before accelerating down Water Street, hitting multiple people and injuring nearly 50. The first emergency calls were made just two minutes later, with first responders treating some people immediately at the scene.