A former Royal Marine who deliberately drove into a crowd of Liverpool FC supporters during a victory parade has been sentenced to 21 years and six months in prison, as shocking details of his long history of explosive violence are revealed.
A History of Violent Outbursts
Paul Doyle, 54, sobbed in the dock at Liverpool Crown Court as he was sentenced on Tuesday for the horrific attack on 26 May. Dashcam footage played to the court captured him screaming angrily as his two-tonne vehicle ploughed into fans: “Get out the fucking way! Get out the way! Move, move, move!”
The court heard that Doyle’s rage continued unabated despite the carnage he caused. Among the 134 victims was a six-month-old boy, thrown from his pushchair and left splayed on the road in his first Liverpool shirt.
Now, it can be revealed that Doyle, described by some as a mild-mannered ‘family man’, is said to have had a propensity for extreme violence long before the parade. A former colleague from his time in the Royal Marines in the early 1990s described him as an “absolute live wire”.
“It was like he was on a tripwire,” the former marine said. “Everyone would say: ‘He’s got a horrendous flash to bang’ – meaning the point you get annoyed to the point you’re punching people is zero time.”
A Trail of Convictions
Doyle’s criminal record includes a series of convictions for serious violence dating back decades. He was jailed for a year in July 1993 for biting a sailor’s ear off in a pub brawl. This occurred just six months after he was discharged from the Royal Marines following a string of other offences.
Having joined the marines in March 1991, Doyle quickly accumulated six civilian and service convictions for violence, dishonesty and criminal damage. Fellow servicemen in Yankee Company knew him for his dangerously short fuse. “He was just out drinking with everyone and he’d just be filling people in,” one recalled. “He had zero escalation.”
He became an “outcast” and was discharged in January 1993 when the military told him his “service was no longer required”. The Ministry of Defence has declined to comment on his service record.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC stated that in the 30 years since his release from prison in May 1995, Doyle had tried to lead a “positive and productive life”. He had worked for an NHS trust and a wealth management firm, and later ran two now-dissolved companies. An Everton fan, he lived with his wife and three sons in a detached home in Croxteth.
Lasting Trauma for Victims
The attack caused widespread panic, with many in the crowd fearing a terrorist incident. Detective Chief Inspector John Fitzgerald, who led the investigation, said the truth was “more unfathomable”. He described the dashcam footage as “the most graphic and distressing” he had seen in 20 years of policing.
“Doyle’s total disregard for the safety of others—particularly the many young children present on Dale Street and Water Street that day—is beyond comprehension. It is sheer luck that no lives were lost,” DCI Fitzgerald added.
Over two days in court, 78 victims delivered powerful statements about their life-changing physical and psychological injuries. The mother of a young boy said her son now wakes crying from nightmares, anxious about facial scars and a bald patch. “Before the collisions he was full of energy, curiosity and joy... So much of that has been taken away from him,” she said.
Many described being “haunted” by the sounds of panic, and now suffer a fear of crowds and of returning to Liverpool city centre. The mother of a seven-month-old boy said the “terrifying image” of his pram being struck would stay with her forever, adding that hearing a Liverpool accent now triggers panic attacks.
Susan Farrell, 55, addressed Doyle directly in court, telling him: “There are hundreds of people affected by that day ... think of them. Don’t sit in the dock and cry for yourself.” Her daughter, an avid Liverpool fan, can no longer bear to watch the team play, finding the sight of red shirts an unbearable reminder of the trauma.
Simon Galley of St John Ambulance, who coordinated the emergency response from a control centre in Bootle, called it a “miracle” no one was killed. The incident was the largest mass-casualty event he had witnessed in his 36 years with the charity.
