A British man appeared in court on Friday charged with causing grievous bodily harm after a car ploughed into a crowd of Liverpool soccer fans injuring almost 80 during this week’s Premier League title victory parade.
Paul Doyle, from the West Derby area of Liverpool, is charged with seven offences including dangerous driving and two counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent.
The 53-year-old appeared at Liverpool Magistrates’ Court on Friday morning and confirmed his name, address and date of birth.
Prosecutor Philip Astbury told the court: “These charges arise from events around about 6 p.m. on May 26 … in the city centre.
“As significant crowds left the waterfront after the parade for the local football team, this defendant, say the crown (prosecution), drove deliberately at people amongst the crowd as they tried to leave the area.”
Doyle was remanded into custody and later briefly appeared for a further hearing at Liverpool Crown Court when a provisional trial date of November 24 was set. He was not asked to enter a plea to any of the seven charges ahead of his next court appearance on August 14.
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The incident took place in Liverpool’s packed city centre on Monday evening, as about a million people had come out to celebrate Liverpool’s title win and watch an open-top bus parade featuring the team and its staff with the trophy.
Police have said the incident, which left a total of 79 people injured, was isolated and not an act of terrorism. Seven people remained in hospital in a stable condition as of Thursday evening.
(Reporting by Phil Noble in Liverpool and Sam Tobin and Sam Tabahriti in London; editing by William James, Michael Holden and Giles Elgood)
