Incident in Water St Liverpool

It sounds as if the driver is of good character and panicked by the whole situation he found himself in.
The drugs charge will depend on what it was and how much I should think.I wonder what he will actually be charged with, as so far he has been arrested but not charged.

It sounds to me as though the driver was under the influence of drugs. He should never have got behind the wheel of his car. His panic can’t be used to somehow minimise his responsibility for what happened. The man who threw a chair at the car after it reversed at him was panicked.

the whole situation he found himself in

How can a person "find themselves" driving where they shouldn't be?

Very sad day.

People of 'good character' do bad things all the time, it is a term often used when a man has killed his entire family. And it is to be seen if he was of good character, getting into a car when on drugs doesn't necessarily indicate that.

Would a man who was a triathlete be on drugs? Has it been proven that he was on drugs or drunk ? Did he, as others have said, panic when he found himself surrounded with people banging on his car, trying to smash its windows, open the door, people shouting kill him. What would any of us do? Would we just sit there or would we try to escape. I think the police are doing their job and we must all allow them to do so and then hopefully the truth will come out about this terrible event. Meanwhile my thoughts are with those in hospital who are also enduring pain and flashbacks.

Personally, I don’t think any references to The Sun or Hillsborough are necessary. They are two completely separate events and in this case it is all caught on camera.

We will all have to see as I’m sure the police will either have to charge this man or release him. Keir Starmer was in Liverpool yesterday and he said he wanted to see for himself the sequence of events. Of course, he was as a previous head of the prosecution service. They have to get this right.

woodenspoon I'm sorry you don't understand the references to the Sun and Hillsborough. Go and look at the thousands of posts currently on social media blaming Liverpool fans for what happened. The similarity is that fans were blamed for what happened at Hillsborough, mainly by tittle tattlers who didn't know all the facts and were just speculating, as they are now.

Are you saying it’s acceptable to tailgate an ambulance through a closed street barrier when it’s obvious that an area is thronging with people woodenspoon? I just can’t see any justification for that.

The trouble with driving whilst under the influence of alcohol or drugs is it impairs your judgement. Perhaps that's why he "found himself in that situation". He reversed into the crowd, hitting a man. I think it was that man who found himself in a situation, a situation where he could have been seriously injured just enjoying a day of celebration, I'm not surprised he was very angry and perhaps he'd had a few pints too but he wasn't driving a car!

The police said they suspect drugs in his system, have they confirmed this, were they recreational or prescribed?

The footage being shown on news outlets is extremely disturbing I am just so relieved that nobody I know was involved.

I hope for a swift physical recovery for those who were. I fear the physiological effects may last their lifetimes.

Galaxy

People of 'good character' do bad things all the time, it is a term often used when a man has killed his entire family. And it is to be seen if he was of good character, getting into a car when on drugs doesn't necessarily indicate that.

Ain’t this the truth!

growstuff

woodenspoon I'm sorry you don't understand the references to the Sun and Hillsborough. Go and look at the thousands of posts currently on social media blaming Liverpool fans for what happened. The similarity is that fans were blamed for what happened at Hillsborough, mainly by tittle tattlers who didn't know all the facts and were just speculating, as they are now.

I know about The Sun and Hillsborough. I don’t think there’s anybody in the UK who doesn’t. So no lectures growstuff. We all know. Plus I’ve got family in Liverpool.

All I am saying is wait for the facts to come out. I don’t look on social media so I don’t know what is being said about the fans.

The police will have to bring charges in the next day or so, ones they will need to be confident will stick. So then we will know whether it’s drugs or alcohol or whatever.

The French police initially tried to blame Liverpool fans in the dreadful events in Paris in 2023. My friend was at Hillsborough and in Paris, on both occasions fans were blamed completely wrongly. He said both events were terrifying and caused by crowd surge as a result of police actions. No doubt this event in Liverpool will have injured fans who were some distance from the car as they tried to get out of it's way but got crushed in the panic.

I have watched the video clips online, the one posted on gransnet, in my newspaper on line and on TV. My first impression of those men when the car had just entered the road remains that they were spoiling for a fight.
I do not excuse the driver; we do not know all the circumstances although the phrase 'high on drugs' was not impartial; the police have been given extra time to examine him which suggeats it is not at all clear cut.

woodenspoon Just because you don't look at social media doesn't mean the gossip isn't happening.

eazybee

I have watched the video clips online, the one posted on gransnet, in my newspaper on line and on TV. My first impression of those men when the car had just entered the road remains that they were spoiling for a fight.
I do not excuse the driver; we do not know all the circumstances although the phrase 'high on drugs' was not impartial; the police have been given extra time to examine him which suggeats it is not at all clear cut.

I think you're wrong. You need to look at what led up to the men hitting the car and throwing something at it.

By the way, the driver can't have just "entered the road" when he narrowly missed running a woman over, then backed into the man who responded by throwing something at the back window and breaking it. He was just outside William Hill in Dale Street and must have been driving along the road for several hundred metres.

The police are looking into the footage from CCTV in the area before they can make an assessment of what happened. They have to get it right. Conjecture and rumour doesn't help them. Leave them to do their job.

He may previously have been of good character but I don't imagine the police put out a statement saying he was being charged with dangerous driving re drugs unless he failed a drugs test which they would have done immediately. Therefore he should never have got behind the wheel.Or followed the ambulance down a street completely packed with people.

He hasn't been charged with anything. He was arrested on suspicion of various offences. That is very different. It is up to the police to gather enough evidence to charge and they haven't yet done so.

nanna8

All I see on Facebook are messages from overseas friends and acquaintances ,recipes and pictures of beautiful places.Sometimes interesting historical pictures of places I used to know. I have never,ever seen anything racist or nasty. Maybe people should be more careful which groups they affiliate with ?

Maybe people should be more careful which groups they affiliate with ?

I clicked on a post about "Beautiful Britain" which showed some stunning photography - quite innocuous.

Then my feed filled up with groups with titles like "Britain As It Was". Black and White photography of various cities circa 50s / 60s.

The comments underneath? An example: "Britain before the rag-heads took over"; "Shame we let the 3rd world in to destroy our country". And worse.

Your observation implies that people are deliberately seeking controversial groups - that is not necessarily the case - at all.

nanna8, you’re judging unfairly, victim blaming really by suggesting if we see racist comments it down to our search history.

Dickens summarises it well. I get history info and photographs of my town. This morning, a photograph of our glorious town hall square in about 1968. It was clean, no rubbish, green spaces and reflected our town in that period. It was wealthy, factories, engineering, manufacturing and many jobs in commerce or retail.
The comments below included many racist comments, blaming the number of immigrants for all that has gone wrong. We have beggars, homeless people, drug/alcohol users etc. there’s no analysis of how things have deteriorated, it makes depressing reading.
I wasn’t looking for it - it’s just there

GrannyGravy13

The police said they suspect drugs in his system, have they confirmed this, were they recreational or prescribed?

The footage being shown on news outlets is extremely disturbing I am just so relieved that nobody I know was involved.

I hope for a swift physical recovery for those who were. I fear the physiological effects may last their lifetimes.

The arrest was on the basis of under the influence of drugs and dangerous driving pending further investigation. There is an instant test that can be administered roadside for "recreational" drugs and I imagine this was done immediately on reaching the police station. I think if it were prescription meds we'd have found out by now.

I think he got into the situation as his judgment was impaired and the crucial point was as others have said when he got blocked in behind the ambulance and crowds around.

Nothing to do with specific Liverpool fans - footie crowds are known to have heightened emotions and spats or fights break out at times.

At that crucial point I have no doubt he was terrified by the attacks however justified or not and then "lost it" and drove forward. So - no excuses for any of it - only explanations as to to the sequence of events.

Casdon

nanna8

Did he have a heart attack or something ? That sort of thing happens from time to time . I remember someone driving through a garden and into a house once because they had an attack and their foot was down on the accelerator. People panic and it can lead to all sorts of nasty things when cars are involved.

That’s very unlikely, as he would surely have had pain and/or symptoms, and medical needs are dealt with before criminal. He’s been in custody for several days, and he’s obviously been tested for drugs and alcohol.

Not necessarily, although I don't believe that was the case in this instance.
We had a relative who was perfectly fit, driving on holiday but had a heart attack at the wheel. Luckily no-one else was injured. Another friend died recently and unexpectedly from a heart attack without any previous symptoms.

Iam64

nanna8, you’re judging unfairly, victim blaming really by suggesting if we see racist comments it down to our search history.

Dickens summarises it well. I get history info and photographs of my town. This morning, a photograph of our glorious town hall square in about 1968. It was clean, no rubbish, green spaces and reflected our town in that period. It was wealthy, factories, engineering, manufacturing and many jobs in commerce or retail.
The comments below included many racist comments, blaming the number of immigrants for all that has gone wrong. We have beggars, homeless people, drug/alcohol users etc. there’s no analysis of how things have deteriorated, it makes depressing reading.
I wasn’t looking for it - it’s just there

nanna8
I have never seen racist posts on my FB feed either.

Perhaps, having typed this, I might well now.

Allira

Casdon

nanna8

Did he have a heart attack or something ? That sort of thing happens from time to time . I remember someone driving through a garden and into a house once because they had an attack and their foot was down on the accelerator. People panic and it can lead to all sorts of nasty things when cars are involved.

That’s very unlikely, as he would surely have had pain and/or symptoms, and medical needs are dealt with before criminal. He’s been in custody for several days, and he’s obviously been tested for drugs and alcohol.

Not necessarily, although I don't believe that was the case in this instance.
We had a relative who was perfectly fit, driving on holiday but had a heart attack at the wheel. Luckily no-one else was injured. Another friend died recently and unexpectedly from a heart attack without any previous symptoms.

I meant after the event Allira. If he had had a heart attack, his heart would not have returned to a normal rhythm immediately afterwards, he would have received a medical check - so in this case, it’s unlikely that was the cause.