Incident in Water St Liverpool

He was arrested on various charges and police said suspected of drug driving. No doubt samples have been sent for testing and police await the outcome

People are speculating and Of course it’s possible his behaviour relates to something other than substances.

An absolute tragedy as well as terrifying and traumatising for those injured and caught up in this shocking incident

There never was a "drugs charge".

Please stop speculating. Highly irresponsible and prejudicial.

Skodadoda all speculation and supposition that you have been told can hinder a court case.
Irresponsible behaviour to peddle hearsay.

Primrose53

No mention of drugs charges now.

An absolute tragedy but we read he turned into that street and people in the crowd turned on him which footage showed. Kicking and punching his car and allegedly grabbing him by the throat. I guess he went into panic. Awful thing to happen.

True, the drugs charges have gone. If the crowd had got hold of him they might well have killed him. Another nasty aspect of this was the comment reported in the i newspaper that an Asian man was accosted and told, ‘this is down to your lot’! So much for the ‘unity’ of Liverpool people.

Wyllow3

I think threads reach a natural end at some point and whether it has is up to posters and simply happens.

Following strictly to the BBC "facts only" I noted he didn't have to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty but think better for all he remains on bail.

This isn’t a normal thread tho, and what else is there to say that isn’t speculation now?
As Silverbrook says on this page the police have asked for no more speculation online or elsewhere that could impede the
Judicial process.
So I’m out and up to others what they do.

TerriBull It's up to the court to examine the evidence and come to a verdict. By November, there should be much more available. If he's found guilty (and he's innocent until proved guilty), the judge will decide whether there are mitigating circumstances, such as attacks by pedestrians, medical conditions, medication, etc. The police have asked everybody not to speculate.

PS. It's sickening to see some of the stuff which is still circulating on social media (other than GN). One theory I saw was that the driver was really a Muslim, but this guy has been persuaded to be a fall guy! What?

PPS. I hope the victims in hospital are still recovering.

It's really awful, the people who have been injured, possibly seriously. Sounds like he panicked, speculation about drugs and drink appears to have fallen away to be discounted. I read somewhere he was merely dropping off a friend and took the wrong route following the ambulance into the crowd where a person was having a heart attack, by which time he may have realised he'd made a massive mistake and injured some people. It's understandable also how the crowd may have turned on him, given so many unfortunate incidents these days of cars being driven into gatherings, that would have been their perception understandably, hence an acceleration of a really unfortunate chain of mishaps. How awful for those that were injured, his family and the man himself who seemed to have an un blemished record. I feel sorry for all of them. Such a case of "if only the clock could be turned back"

Thanks for the correction - it matters. The BBC is good on this, it also says that charges are not yet finalised, there may be changes, and gives the dates, already set, of court appearances.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0j7exddjneo

He isn’t on bail. He’s remanded in custody.. there was no application for bail, which it’s unlikely would have been granted given the seriousness of the offences.
The investigation is ongoing. As Cold explained earlier, roadside tests will have been followed by samples going to the lab.
This is a horrific incident. It’s a miracle no one was killed. To say the crowd turned on him seems like an attempt to reduce or absolve him of responsibility. We know little of what happened or what caused his erratic, dangerous behaviour. So far, Merseyside police can be praised for its response, investigation and the way relevant information has been shared with the public. There will be long hours, little rest time and the need for skilled, sensitive investigations with traumatised victims. Alongside this, they’ll be supporting his family. Devastating events

I think threads reach a natural end at some point and whether it has is up to posters and simply happens.

Following strictly to the BBC "facts only" I noted he didn't have to enter a plea of guilty or not guilty but think better for all he remains on bail.

Best to bring this thread to an end now? Wait for the results of the trial.

Reading the BBC report of the court proceedings today made my blood run cold. Some people had really lucky escapes especially the baby in the pram who was hit by the car but despite the pram spinning 15 feet down the road the baby was unhurt although unfortunately the baby's mother was one of those who ended up trapped under the car.

Brings back awful memories of being hit by a car on a pavement while pushing the pram 28 years ago.

Primrose53

No mention of drugs charges now.

An absolute tragedy but we read he turned into that street and people in the crowd turned on him which footage showed. Kicking and punching his car and allegedly grabbing him by the throat. I guess he went into panic. Awful thing to happen.

I haven't seen any footage of the time he actually he turned into Dale Street. The earliest video I've seen is the one I expect everyone has seen. He had just narrowly missed knocking a woman over and then reversed into another pedestrian. Understandably, the pedestrian was angry, as was somebody else. I haven't seen any video of him being grabbed by the throat, so that's speculation as far as I'm concerned.

No doubt the police have many hours of video and CCTV, which will be used in evidence and used by the jury. Let's just hope justice prevails - whatever happened.

Silverbrooks

Yesterday, ACC Jenny Sims made clear:

Now that Paul Doyle has been charged, we ask that the judicial process be allowed to continue without any speculation online or elsewhere that could impede the pursuit of justice for all those affected.

Discussing his health in any way is speculation.

Fair enough, I hope it is raised/public in the trial as there are issues about DVLA and prescription meds and people need to be aware its serious.

I think the whole thing is a tragedy. He certainly didn’t set out to kill lots of people in his car, unlike others previously. I’m sure the trial will provide a clearer account.

Yesterday, ACC Jenny Sims made clear:

Now that Paul Doyle has been charged, we ask that the judicial process be allowed to continue without any speculation online or elsewhere that could impede the pursuit of justice for all those affected.

Discussing his health in any way is speculation.

I think there is a difference between the natural need/concern to ask "how could this have happened - we want to avoid it again" sticking to the facts as given by police opposed to wild SM speculation and accusations that have been flying around.

For example he might be on prescription meds and there was a blip - so to say its a possibility but then leave the police to get on with actually investigating it.

Cold

woodenspoon

No drugs or drink mentioned.

Evidential drug tests have to be sent away and tested - which can take weeks

The roadside drug tests (where they scrape your tongue) are indicative but cannot be used in evidence - in the same way that a roadside breath test cannot be used in court and they have to take the readings on the evidential machine at the police station.

So I would not read anything into the lack of drug driving charges at this stage. They can add them later when the results come in if positive.

Read the above explanation about how drugs charges work Primrose.

The police have asked for people not to speculate on social media as this could prejudice a trial.

No mention of drugs charges now.

An absolute tragedy but we read he turned into that street and people in the crowd turned on him which footage showed. Kicking and punching his car and allegedly grabbing him by the throat. I guess he went into panic. Awful thing to happen.

The Police did the right thing, naming him, and stopping any trouble.
I'm sorry for his innocence family but actions have consequences, he has damaged lives including his own family.
He's not going to get any sympathy.

Police will be criticised whatever they do or Don’t do. I read the family had already been moved to a safe house before the address details were released. As growstuff points out once his name was released, identifying his address and personal details would have been easy.

To be honest, there wouldn't have been any point in withholding his address. Once his name was made public, it wouldn't take Sherlock Holmes to work out his address. The car (and number plate) were already known, so close neighbours almost certainly knew who he was.

Anniebach

So wrong to give his home address, I assume his wife and children live with him

I can see your point.
After the Southport killings the police were criticised for holding back information on the suspect. As a result social media went crazy with guessing who was responsible and that triggered the riots that followed, fuelled by misinformation.
In this incident the police quickly mentioned a white British man with no terrorist connections. Sir Mark Rowley said that this will become the norm in future but where does a line get drawn?

Now we know the charges, just have to let things take their course and the court case.
I was surprised too at the police reading out his address and hope the police have now taken his family to a safe house as it certainly won’t be safe anymore.