Police get more time to question Liverpool suspect

Fifty people were treated in hospital following the incident on Water Street

Police have been given extra time to question a man arrested on suspicion of attempted murder after a car ploughed into football fans during Liverpool's Premier League victory parade.

Seven people remain in hospital from a total of 79 casualties struck by the Ford Galaxy on Water Street in the city centre shortly after 18:00 BST on Monday.

Merseyside Police said it had been given more time to question a 53-year-old man from West Derby, who was also detained on suspicion of dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs.

The force said the car had followed an ambulance through a road block, which had been lifted to allow medics to reach someone having a suspected heart attack.

Police said they had now spoken to 14 more people who had been injured after reporting 65 were hurt at a news conference on Tuesday.

Officers confirmed they had been granted further time to continue questioning the suspect until Thursday.

• Live page recap: Liverpool police continue to question suspect

Some flowers and cards have been left on Water Street, which has now reopened

Under laws around the detention of suspects, police forces can keep a person in custody for 24 hours without charge, while a senior officer of at least superintendent rank can sign off on an initial 12-hour extension.

After that, an application can be made to a magistrates' court for further 12-hour extensions to a maximum of 96 hours - or 14 days if the offence is terrorism related.

Within two hours of the suspect's arrest, the force confirmed he was a "white British male" and said the incident was not being treated as terror related.

The Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer visited Merseyside Police headquarters earlier.

He met Deputy Chief Constable Chris Green, Assistant Chief Constable Jenny Sims, Police and Crime Commissioner Emily Spurrell and Metro Mayor Steve Rotheram at the force's base on Rose Hill, Liverpool.

At the start of the meeting, the prime minister said: "The scenes on Monday were just awful, to see how incredible joy at an amazing achievement turned to horror in a moment.

"Steve, the mayor, has been keeping me informed and updated, along with my team, but it's really important to be here to go through this first-hand with you, so thank you for making time and ensuring that I get to see the detail in the way that I'd like to."

From left: PCC Emily Spurrell, Dep Ch Con Chris Green, Sir Keir Starmer, Ast Ch Con Jenny Sims and metro mayor Steve Rotheram

Earlier 54-year-old Peter Cunningham, from Huyton in Merseyside, spoke out after his picture was circulated on social media by people falsely claiming he was the suspect.

"I'm in work - the police need to give the name out because I'm getting accused", he told the BBC.

Merseyside Police urged people not to speculate and reiterated that the only suspect in custody was a 53-year-old man from the West Derby area of Liverpool.

• Liverpool parade crash: How not to get caught out by fake news

Water Street reopened earlier after the cordon was lifted and the aftermath of the parade and the incident was cleaned up overnight.

'Just chaos'

One survivor, Daniel Eveson from Telford in Shropshire, said his partner was dragged under the wheels of the car and his baby son's pram was tossed down the street.

"I saw a gentleman on the bonnet and the rest was just chaos," he told BBC Radio Shropshire.

"It was hard because I didn't know where anyone was or what to do," he said.

"A lot of people were angry and I saw the car getting smashed."

Mr Eveson was able to locate his son, who was unharmed, and leave him in a restaurant as he went back to search for his partner.

Their baby was now as "good as gold", he said, while his partner remained in hospital and was waiting to hear whether she could return home.

"It was the day it was meant to be to start off with, it was perfect," he said, but added "under the sea of chaos it changed to the worst day of my life".

Detectives say they are making "significant progress" in establishing the full circumstances that led to the incident

Det Supt Rachel Wilson said on Thursday: "I'm pleased to say the number of people in hospital is reducing as they continue to recover from the awful incident.

"We continue to support those still receiving treatment and as part of our ongoing enquiries we are identifying more people who were injured."

She said detectives were making "significant progress" in establishing the full circumstances that led to what happened.

Officers are carrying out a trawl of CCTV inquiries across the city to establish the movements of the Ford Galaxy before the incident took place.

Some flowers and cards with well wishes have been left as a reminder of the events which unfolded.

Hundreds of thousands of jubilant Liverpool fans packed the city centre on Bank Holiday Monday and lined the 10-mile (16km) parade route as the Reds celebrated winning their second Premier League crown and 20th top-flight league title.