Liverpool parade accused faces 24 new charges

Paul Doyle now faces 31 charges including causing grievous bodily harm with intent

A man accused of deliberately driving into a crowd of fans at Liverpool's Premier League victory parade has been charged with 24 new offences, including attempted grievous bodily harm against two babies.

Paul Doyle, 53, appeared at Liverpool Crown Court over video-link from prison and became tearful as he was asked to confirm his identity.

He was due to enter pleas to the seven counts he originally faced over the incident in May, but the court heard prosecutors had introduced 24 new counts to the indictment.

Mr Doyle, of West Derby in Liverpool, was not asked to enter pleas to any charges after his barrister Simon Csoka KC asked for more time to consider the new counts.

Remand

More than 130 people were injured when a Ford Galaxy car drove into a crowd on Water Street, in Liverpool city centre, on the evening of 26 May.

The court heard 23 of the new charges reflected injuries to victims, while one was a count of affray.

Five of the victims included in the new charges were children aged between six months and 17 years old, the court heard. Two children were included in the original set of charges.

According to the indictment, 17 of the new counts were attempting to cause grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, five of causing GBH with intent and one of wounding with intent to cause GBH.

Mr Csoka told the court his client had only seen the detail of the new charges shortly before the hearing and had not had chance to read through new witness statements.

He said Mr Doyle had applied for a laptop while on remand in prison to enable him to view CCTV and other digital evidence, but that application had still not been decided two months on.

Paul Doyle became tearful in court over video link

A number of family members of those injured in the attack watched the hearing from the public gallery.

Mr Doyle, who appeared on the video link in a plain grey T-shirt sitting at a desk with a pair of glasses, notepads and several books in front of him, wiped his eyes throughout proceedings.

Judge Andrew Menary KC told Mr Csoka he was willing to give the defence more time before asking for pleas.

"These are serious matters and they are not uncomplicated, and there are practical difficulties in accessing the defendant," he said.

The hearing was adjourned until 4 September.

At a previous hearing prosecutors said their case was that Mr Doyle, of Burghill Road in West Derby, had used the car "as a weapon".

During that hearing, junior counsel Philip Astbury said it was the prosecution's case that Mr Doyle "drove deliberately in that car at people amongst that crowd as they tried to leave the area".

"Six charges of assault reflect the most seriously injured of those who were struck by the vehicle," he said.

"The first count of dangerous driving reflects the manner of driving before and up until the point he used his vehicle deliberately as a weapon to injure those individuals."

He was originally charged with one count of dangerous driving between his home and Water Street, four counts of GBH with intent, one of attempting to cause GBH with intent, and one of wounding with intent to cause GBH.