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12/16 07:24 CST Driver who rammed through crowd at Liverpool soccer parade
sentenced to over 20 years
Driver who rammed through crowd at Liverpool soccer parade sentenced to over 20
years
By BRIAN MELLEY
Associated Press
LONDON (AP) --- A driver who injured more than 130 people when he plowed his
car into a crowd of soccer fans celebrating Liverpool's Premier League
championship was sentenced to over 20 years in prison Tuesday.
Paul Doyle rammed his minivan through a sea of fans on May 26 and halted after
a bystander got in the vehicle and forced it into park. It came to a stop atop
bodies.
"The footage is truly shocking," Judge Andrew Menary said in Liverpool Crown
Court. "It is difficult if not impossible to convey in words alone the scenes
of devastation you caused. It shows you deliberately accelerating into groups
of fans, time and time again."
Doyle sobbed during the two-day sentencing as prosecutors detailed the crime,
using graphic video footage and reading emotional statements from dozens of
victims.
Doyle, 54, pleaded guilty last month to 31 counts, including dangerous driving
and multiple counts of attempting or causing grievous bodily harm and
intentional wounding.
Prosecutors said Doyle used his vehicle as a weapon to ram through the sea of
people walking toward him following the victory parade.
People who scrambled for safety said they feared a terror attack was unfolding.
But the explanation was "as simple as the consequences were awful," prosecutor
Paul Greaney said. Doyle flew into a fury because he couldn't get where he was
going fast enough to pick up a family friend who had attended the parade.
"He was a man in a rage, whose anger had completely taken hold of him," Greaney
said.
The judge dismissed Doyle's explanation of having panicked as "demonstrably
untrue."
When Doyle was placed in a police van, he said: "I've just ruined my family's
life," Greaney said.
The impact was far broader.
A prosecutor spent hours reading out the statements of victims, some still
nursing injuries.
A 16-year-old boy kept awake by nightmares lost his apprenticeship as a
woodworker because he couldn't concentrate. A 23-year-old man had to learn how
to walk again. A woman not from the area said the Liverpool accent now triggers
anxiety. A woman whose daughter was a die-hard Liverpool fan could no longer
watch its matches.
"The sight of red shirts and the sounds of chants are unbearable reminders of
that day," Susan Farrell said.
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