Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Astbury has just read a statement from the mother of a 10-year-old girl who had been deeply affected by the 26 May attack.

The woman said that while her daughter had no lasting physical injuries, the mental impact has been significant.

"She has changed in herself, she has been suffering with anxiety, she has become clingy, not wanting to be away from us as she thinks something bad will happen, and she has formed irrational fears such as all of a sudden being petrified of dogs."

The woman said her daughter "hasn’t really spoken about what happened that day, she is a very positive little girl with a sunny disposition, she will always say that she is fine, but this worries me as I find it difficult to know exactly how she is or what she’s thinking."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Prosecutor Mr Astbury reads the statement of a 16-year-old boy, who described feeling "scared, angry and sad".

The boy said: "I sometimes think that things could have been a lot worse and that frightens me, but equally the incident should never have happened, and that’s why I find it hard to accept and move on with my life.

"This is just not fair to have to cope with all this at my age."

Meanwhile Amanda Gardener, 52, described her feelings of "guilt" after the attack.

"My sister didn’t really want to go [to the Liverpool FC victory parade] but I convinced them it would be a good day," she wrote.

"I then saw my sister go flying into the air.

"We lost our sister last year; I thought I was losing another and thought I was going to have tell her family that she had died."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

One woman, who was at the parade with her 17-year-old son, said: "Before the incident, I was strong willed and independent. Afterwards, I had to rely on family for even the simplest emotional and physical support."

She described the impact on her son as "profound and heartbreaking".

"No child should ever have to witness their parent being hit by a car, let alone be the one who has to pull them out of the road to safety," she said.

"That moment, that responsibility, was far too much for someone his age to bear."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Greaney says one victim, an 11-year-old boy, suffered a haematoma to his head and abrasions to his knees, left shoulder and back.

Liverpool Crown Court hears he spent four nights in hospital, and his mother has spoken of his "fear, anxiety and sadness and of his nightmares".

Another victim, 61-year-old Robin Darke, suffered a large wound to his right heel, requiring 10 stitches.

He then developed an "extremely serious infection" in the wound, requiring a nine-night admission to hospital and five surgeries.

Mr Darke spent three months in a wheelchair and has described feeling "permanently scarred and disfigured".

Greaney says: "His retirement has been ruined. Robin and his family have been left devastated."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

One 12-year-old boy's statement, read by prosecution lawyer Philip Astbury, read: "I have never felt so scared before in my life.

"I was split up from my mum, I felt lost, confused, didn’t know what was happening to me or why.

"I have developed a fear of crowded places since the incident, I get very anxious when crossing roads and sometimes I freeze, I need my mum to reassure me I am safe.

"I get a fright when I hear a car horn or the revving or noise of a speeding car."

He said his mum had been "very supportive" but added: "I feel really upset when I see my mum crying.

"I don’t understand why the man in the car has done this to me and my mum."

His mother added: "The sight of my son lying motionless on the road, not moving for those few seconds,and the sound of the car hitting people will live with me forever."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Junior prosecution counsel Mr Astbury then reads the statement of Scott Dolan, 36,

He said he felt like he had lost "months of my life"

Meanwhile Jessica Fawcett, 21, said: "The emotional and psychological injury is also still with me, and I don’t yet know what the full impact of this will be. I was prescribed a course of cognitive therapy to help me come to terms with this."

And Rebecca Layfield, 33, said she had "developed severe anxiety which led to me missing work.

"I have also had difficulty sleeping due to flashbacks from the incident."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

The prosecution's barrister Paul Greaney KC has now invited his junior counsel, Philip Astbury, to begin reading summaries of the victim impact statements delivered by 78 of the victims.

Mr Astbury begins with the statement from Jack Trotter, 23.

Mr Trotter says he struggled for months after the attack on 26 May 2025.

"Learning to walk again has been a long and often painful process," he tells the court.

"The incident negatively impacted on my role as a father, my son was three at the time.

"I was unable to do all the normal things a father and son should be able to, like throwing him in the air, playing football. I felt like I was losing my connection with him.

"I have had to quit football at the age of 23. It was my passion and identity since I was young.

"I still attend physio every other week, but my back has deteriorated."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Greaney turns to the list of 31 charges brought against Paul Doyle.

Counts one and two are dangerous driving and affray.

Counts 3 to 31 accuse Doyle of either causing grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding with intent, or of attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent.

Mr Greaney begins to outline some of the injuries suffered by the victims who sustained grievous bodily harm.

We are hearing of broken bones, the skin and tissue injuries suffered by the mother of Teddy Eveson - the baby who was knocked over while in his pram - and victims who required multiple surgeries.

Anna Bilonozhenko, who needed a metal plate inserting in her knee, had fled the war in Ukraine in 2024.

"She is now in constant pain, with limited mobility," Mr Greaney tells the court.

Susan Passey, 77, was the oldest victim of the attack

She suffered multiple injuries including a fractured left forearm, a fractured left collarbone, three broken ribs, a fracture to her lower back, a fractured pelvis, a broken nose, and numerous cuts and abrasions.

She also required surgery for a fracture and open wound to her left thumb.

She spent 27 days in hospital.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC says that in his first police interview, Paul Doyle claimed there were “no obvious police in the vicinity” of the crash scene on Water Street in Liverpool city centre.

Mr Greaney tells the court: "As we have seen, that claim was false. There were police present throughout his journey down towards the Strand.

"He drove past a police van, past police officers and knocked a female police officer to the ground.

"Police officers chased after him,trying to stop what he was doing.

"It follows that the defendant gave a false and distorted account in that first interview."

Mr Greaney said Doyle was interviewed a number of other times and shown the footage from his own dashcam.

The attack perpetrator agreed the accounts were not consistent with each other.

"Nonetheless. [Doyle] maintained that he had behaved as he had because of fear," Greaney says.

Doyle is said to have told detectives: "I just panicked".

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Greaney tells the court Doyle's claim that he stopped as soon as he knew that he had struck someone "is a lie".

"It is impossible to credit the suggestion that the defendant did not know he had struck many, many people," he says.

"Some of whom were pressed onto his bonnet, right in front of his face.

"In any event, the defendant did not stop voluntarily.

"As we have explained, he stopped because of the combination of the presence of a group of fans trapped beneath his vehicle and the actions of Daniel Barr."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Greaney says the man with ginger hair had not tried to open the door of Doyle's car and was simply trying to protect his child.

He also says police had been unable to locate a single image of anyone with a knife.

Greaney says it was true that a small plastic cup of liquid had been thrown into the car.

"But the idea that he was unable to see properly is one that should be rejected."

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Greaney is now describing what Doyle said in his police interviews.

He says Doyle explained that he was driving into town to collect his friend Dave Clark and was "moving slowly".

He says a man with ginger hair became "very aggressive" and tried to open his car's door.

Doyle told officers he saw a group of men by a pub, and said: "I swear one of them had a knife by his right thigh and then, as I got my second hand on and pulled the door - I don’t know if it was a bottle or a glass - I think it hit me here because I’ve got a cut there, but at the same time all the alcohol went in my eyes and my face."

Doyle said he feared for his life and "went into a blind panic" and decided to head for an ambulance up ahead.

"Then I had like visors on or I was just blacked out, but all of a sudden I got to where this ambulance was and then I just realised that someone was at the side of the car and I just thought this is totally horrific and then I just pulled the car to a stop."

Greaney says what Doyle described was "false".

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Mr Greaney moves on to describe what happened to Doyle after the car was stopped.

"The crowd was unsurprisingly highly hostile towards Paul Doyle by the time his vehicle was brought to a stop and attempted to drag him out of the Galaxy," he said.

"Blows were delivered to him, and he sustained some minor injuries. Police officers intervened and they forced him into a nearby police van in the midst of a hostile crowd. What they did was brave and effective...

"In the back of the van, captured on the body-worn camera of one of the officers, Paul Doyle said: "I’ve just ruined my family’s life.”

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Paul Greaney plays distressing bodycam footage showing a young boy being freed from under the wheels of Doyle's car.

The young boy is initially motionless, but appears to start moving when he is released.

Susan Passey and the two 17-year-old boys, who were receiving oxygen from paramedics, are also freed in the footage

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Warning: This update contains graphic details

One of the photographs shows 77-year-old Susan Passey trapped under the wheels of Paul Doyle's car.

A pool of blood is visible near her head.

Two friends - both 17-year-old boys - are also pictured trapped under the vehicle's wheels.

Mairead Smyth
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

We are back under way at Liverpool Crown Court.

Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC is showing pictures to the court.

We can see people trapped under the bonnet of Paul Doyle's car - the images are from a police officer's body-worn camera.

Ian Shoesmith
Live page editor

Image source, Julia Quenzler

Paul Doyle's sentencing hearing is due to resume at Liverpool Crown Court at about 14:15 GMT.

My colleagues Jonny Humphries and Mairead Smyth are in court and will be filing updates throughout the afternoon.

It's worth stressing that the hearing is listed for two days, meaning that Doyle will be unlikely to receive his sentence today.

In essence, Doyle admits driving into a crowd of football fans who had gathered in Liverpool on 26 May to celebrate Liverpool FC's Premier League title victory.

The 54-year-old former Royal Marine from Croxteth in Liverpool has pleaded guilty to 31 offences: 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

Shocking tales of violence and braverypublished at 13:15 GMT 15 December

13:15 GMT 15 December

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

That was an extraordinary morning's proceedings in courtroom 4.1 of Liverpool Crown Court.

As Paul Doyle sobbed and wiped his eyes, prosecutor Paul Greaney KC outlined how the now 54-year-old "lost his temper" and drove into a dense crowd on Liverpool's Water Street on a journey to pick up friends from the Liverpool FC Premier League victory parade.

But more than any words could, dashboard camera footage from inside his 1.9 tonne Ford Galaxy graphically illustrated the severity of what happened at about 18:00 BST on Bank Holiday Monday 26 May.

We've seen how Doyle indiscriminately drove into babies, children, women and men as he screamed expletives.

We've heard the clear thuds as the victims bounced off his bonnet and against the windshield.

We've seen the looks of terror and pain on their faces - and we've seen how he knocked the pram of a six-month-old baby sidewards.

Mr Greaney explained that Doyle was completely sober, and not motivated by any terrorist or other ideology.

As well as Doyle's criminality, there have been descriptions of sheer bravery.

Greaney said Doyle was stopped thanks in large part to Daniel Barr, who jumped into the backseat and pushed the gear selector of the automatic car into 'park mode'.

The case will continue into this afternoon and tomorrow morning.

Ian Shoesmith BBC News
Live page editor

That concludes this morning's hearing at Liverpool Crown Court.

Judge Andrew Menary KC says we will resume at 14:15 GMT.

It has been a very dramatic beginning to Paul Doyle's sentencing hearing - there were audible gasps and visible tears as harrowing video footage was played by the prosecution.

My colleague Jonny Humphries is in court - he's busy summing up the key evidence so far, and we'll bring that to you shortly.

Jonny Humphries
Reporting from Liverpool Crown Court

Prosecutor Mr Greaney says that when Doyle was interviewed by police, he claimed he had stopped the car as soon as he realised he had struck someone.

Mr Greaney tells the court: “The defendant could not have failed to see that he had struck very many people on his journey down Dale Street and Water Street, stopping to reverse and then drive on a number of times.

“In any event, what brought the Galaxy to a halt was a combination of the number of people trapped beneath the vehicle and the actions of Daniel Barr - not the decision of Paul Doyle.

“On the contrary, as we have explained, even with people beneath his vehicle, Paul Doyle tried to drive on.”

He says by the time Doyle was stopped, he had injured more than 100 people.

“Very many were placed into a state of terror,” he adds.