Doyle sentenced to 21 years and six months
The judge has sentenced Paul Doyle to 21 years and six months in prison for his actions. He has also been disqualified from driving and this extends three years after his release.
Doyle had previously pleaded guilty 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.
Key events
Outside Liverpool Crown Court, Chantal Rabbetts, from law firm Bond Turner, representing a number of Paul Doyle’s victims, said:
Our clients are relieved the criminal investigation has now come to a conclusion and they can start to move on with their recovery.
However, it is difficult to do so when there are still so many unanswered questions around the motivation for this crime.
Why Paul Doyle chose to act in this was on 26th May, we may never really know.
What we do know is that our clients are still living with the effects of his actions, both physically and mentally.
We are pleased to have been able to get them access to early rehabilitation but the fact is they will all have to live with the scars of that day for some time yet.
Ultimately, our clients came to Liverpool city centre to celebrate with the whole city and what should have been a memorable and joyful day is now being remembered for all the wrong reasons.
In this article, Daniel Barr, a former soldier, recalls how he brought an end to the attack as Doyle tried to accelerate further into the crowd of people on Liverpool’s Water Street in May.
The judge at Liverpool crown court said that Daniel Barr’s heroic actions likely “saved 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”.
Barr, who was in the public gallery, stood and was thanked by the judge.
Doyle ‘generated horror and chaos’ during parade attack, CPS says, as it praises ‘heroic actions’ of man who brought an end to the rampage
The CPS has sent out a statement reacting to Doyle being sentenced to over 21 years for driving into a crowd at the Liverpool Premier League victory parade last May.
James Allison, a special prosecutor at CPS Mersey Cheshire’s complex casework unit, said that Doyle not only injured people celebrating the Premier League win, but he “generated horror and chaos on what was meant to be a day of celebration”.
Considering the possible reasons behind Doyle’s actions, Allison said the “truth is as simple as it is awful”.
“Paul Doyle lost his temper and, in a rage, drove into people, intending to cause them serious harm,” Allison said, describing the dashcam footage showing his journey to Liverpool city centre that day as “truly shocking”.
“Before he got to the city centre, he was driving aggressively, undertaking other cars and driving through red lights. As we now know, it was to get much worse,” Allison said.
“He did not even stop when he knew there were people trapped under his car. He continued revving his engine to try and continue forward.”
Allison went on to describe how the heroic actions of Daniel Barr forced an end to the chaos after he climbed into Doyle’s car and moved the gear selector into park.
Allison said:
Mr Barr got into the back of Paul Doyle’s car. He did not know what he was facing when he did but knew he had to stop him. To do so, he put the controls of the automatic car into “park” and held onto it.
Because of this action the vehicle eventually came to a stop. This no doubt prevented many more injuries, possibly even fatalities.
The Crown Prosecution Service would like to thank Mr Barr for what he did on that day. When he got into Paul Doyle’s car he had no thought for his own safety. He just knew he had to do something.
Doyle stared straight ahead, blinking, with no expression as the judge handed down his sentence.
There was no reaction from the former royal marine as he was taken down from the dock by prison officers at Liverpool crown court.
Doyle cried on several occasions in key parts of today’s session, including at points when the victim statements were read out.
The judge says he took into account the fact that Doyle had not committed any offences for over three decades and had made efforts to turn his life around after a “troubling start” to early adulthood, including going to university.
Character references described Doyle as a devoted husband, father, and good friend.
Before passing his sentence, the judge acknowledged that the sentence he was about to pass – of 21 years and six months – is to have a “devastating” impact but said its length was proportionate given the “gravity” of the offences.
The judge described the evidence against Doyle as overwhelming.
Doyle sentenced to 21 years and six months
The judge has sentenced Paul Doyle to 21 years and six months in prison for his actions. He has also been disqualified from driving and this extends three years after his release.
Doyle had previously pleaded guilty 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.
The judge said Doyle acted in an “inexplicable and undiluted fury” when he ploughed into crowds at Liverpool’s victory parade.
He said: “A number of witnesses, including serving police officers, describe you continuing to press the accelerator, even when people were visibly underneath the car.
“Your shouted expressions of frustration underline your state of mind at the time – not fear or panic, but an inexplicable and undiluted fury.”
Doyle, in the dock, bows his head, as the judge starts to read out a list of the injuries caused in the collision on 26 May 2025.
The judge told Doyle: “For no reason other than impatience and arrogance, your driving into the city was routinely dangerous.
“In poor weather conditions you repeatedly undertook other vehicles, took road hazards too quickly and drove through traffic lights at a junction.”
The judge said that on Dale Street Doyle’s driving was “aggressive and dangerous”, telling him: “You frightened pedestrians, leaning on your horn and shouting obscenities such as ‘get out of the fucking way’.”
Judge says the ‘crowd did not cause this incident’
Judge Andrew Menary KC said the account given by Doyle in his police interview, in which he said he had acted out of panic due to the behaviour of some the crowd, was “demonstrably untrue”.
“The position should be stated clearly: The crowd did not cause this incident, they reacted to it, faced with a vehicle being driven directly at them, reversing and striking multiple people,” the judge said.
“They had no idea who you were, why you were driving in this manner and whether this was an attack of an even more serious nature.”
The judge said the attempt by Doyle to blame his actions on some of the football supporters on the street were “unfair” and “unfounded”.
Judge says Doyle’s ‘disregard for human life defies ordinary understanding’
The judge told Doyle that his “disregard for human life defies ordinary understanding”.
He told the defendant
It is almost impossible to comprehend how any right-thinking person could act as you did.
To drive a vehicle into crowds of pedestrians with such persistence and disregard for human life defies ordinary understanding.
The judge added: “Your actions caused horror and devastation on a scale not previously encountered by this court.”
Judge says Doyle caused ‘scenes of devastation’ as he ‘deliberately’ drove into crowd
In his sentencing remarks the judge said that Doyle drove “dangerously” into the city centre of Liverpool during the football celebrations and “deliberately” drove “into and over more than 100 pedestrians”, using his vehicle in a way that transformed it into a “weapon”.
“You made the conscious choice to drive past the cones and into the heart of the crowd,” he said.
“The footage is truly shocking. It is difficult if not impossible to convey in words alone the scenes of devastation you caused.”
“It shows you deliberately accelerating into groups of fans, time and time again.”
The sentencing judge describes the Liverpool parade as supposed to having been a day of celebration, but Doyle drove “dangerously” into the “heart of the crowd.”
“In a mere two minutes you used your vehicle in a manner that turned it into a weapon… deliberately driving into and over more than 100 pedestrians.”
Judge Andrew Menary KC has now begun his sentencing address.
Paul Doyle’s lawyer says client is ‘appalled by own conduct’
Doyle, who pleaded guilty last month, is “appalled by his own conduct”, his barrister Simon Csoka continues.
His client that day had not left the house with the intention of driving into the crowd and causing harm – he had gone to the parade to help pick up a friend and his friend’s children.
His sudden action to turn on the crowd was “unexpected and incomprehensible”.
“The spiralling effect of his conduct was utterly unexpected by him and utterly unexpected by all those who know him well.”
Doyle ‘remorseful’ and ‘deeply sorry’ – lawyer
Doyle’s lawyer Simon Csoka KC is now addressing the court. He says his client accepts full responsibility for his crimes in Liverpool.
He is “horrified” and “remorseful, ashamed and deeply sorry for all those who have suffered,” Csoka said.
“He accepts full responsibility, he expects no sympathy.”
Prosecutor Greaney says that run of convictions in Doyle’s early history would aggravate the seriousness of his offences in Liverpool.
However, he said the prosecution also recognised that in the 30 years between his prison release in 1995 and his actions in Liverpool in May, “the defendant had taken steps to live a positive and productive life.”
During that period, he was convicted of no offences. He went to university. He worked, including in positions of responsibility. He had a family.
Those efforts to rehabilitate himself after a difficult early adulthood only serve to make more shocking – and tragic – what he did in Liverpool that day this May.”
