The Liverpool parade suspect has been charged. But authorities still have questions to answer

Dear readers — a warm welcome to the first Monday briefing of June!

Catch up and coming up:

Over the weekend, Abi published the much anticipated fifth instalment of her investigation into Liverpool charity, Big Help Project. She revealed both Peter Mitchell and his partner Colette Goulding, a serving Labour councillor for West Derby Muirhead, have been declared bankrupt, with multiple investigations by the Charity Commission into charities the pair previously ran. Despite this, Mitchell has embarked on yet another venture: heading to war-torn Ukraine as well as the tax haven of Gibraltar. 

“Great investigative journalism,” one of you wrote in the comments. “How a serving councillor can be declared bankrupt and remain in office is a disgrace and shouldn't be allowable”. Carl Cashman, the leader of Liverpool’s Lib Dems, has since written an open letter to council leader Liam Robinson, pushing for Colette Goulding’s resignation.

The Post has also approached the Labour Party for comment on Goulding’s position as councillor. We await their response — in the meantime, catch up on that story here.

Coming up this week we have another edition of Answers in The Post, this time addressing metro mayor Steve Rotheram’s flagship project: the Mersey Barrage. How much will it cost the city region, and what are the chances of it actually happening? Stay tuned to find out…

The big story: Paul Doyle has been charged. But is the media coverage suspect?

Top line: The man suspected of driving his car into crowds at the Liverpool parade has appeared in court. But why are national papers leading with his military service, business ownership and family life?

Context: A week ago today, jubilant Liverpool fans packed the streets of the city centre and lined the 15 kilometre parade route to celebrate the club’s 20th English league title. But just after 6pm, Merseyside Police received reports of a car colliding with pedestrians along Water Street.

On Friday, the car’s alleged driver, Paul Doyle, 53, appeared at both Liverpool Magistrates' Court and Liverpool Crown Court. He faced seven charges:

• Two counts of unlawful and malicious wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
• Two counts of causing unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
• Two counts of attempted unlawful and malicious grievous bodily harm with intent to cause grievous bodily harm
• One count of dangerous driving

He had previously been arrested on suspicion of dangerous driving, attempted murder, and driving while unfit through drugs, but was not charged with the latter two crimes. Presiding Judge Andrew Menary set a provisional trial date for 24 November.

Reporting: In the days following the catastrophe, which injured 79 people and hospitalised 50 including four children, tabloids led with details about Doyle’s personal and professional life. “LIVERPOOL SUSPECT IS A COMPANY DIRECTOR”, read the Daily Mail’s headline, before providing information about the suspect’s “middle-class” status, “smart, £300,000, four-bedroomed detached property on a neat estate” and “well-behaved children”. He “must have panicked in the moment,” according to neighbours summarised by the Mail. Meanwhile, the Daily Mirror opted for “ARRESTED DRIVER IS ‘A LOVELY FAMILY MAN’”, claiming that Doyle’s West Derby neighbours describe him as “a fantastic guy”. 

“According to social media,” wrote The Times, “the 53-year-old business owner has competed in triathlons and enjoyed holidays to exotic locations.” Others mentioned prominently that he was a former Royal Marine.

News outlets, including The Post, have to be careful to not prejudice upcoming legal proceedings, which is why national papers’ decision to stress positive or humanising details about Doyle is noteworthy. 

“The media is bending over backwards to humanise the man who mowed down 79 people at Liverpool’s parade”, Zarah Sultana, the Liverpool-supporting MP for Coventry South, wrote on X, while businessman Brendan May, who attended the parade, said, “This ‘lovely family man’ came within metres of mowing down two of my children, so perhaps he isn’t.”

Local response: In the days following the incident, Merseyside Police and the metro mayor’s office both issued statements that have since come into question. In relation to exactly how Doyle was able to access Dale Street and Water Street in a vehicle, the police told reporters they believed the driver tailgated an ambulance to bypass a road block, with assistant chief constable Jenny Sims saying that a “robust traffic management plan was put in place”.

The Post spoke to several witnesses who cast doubt on the police’s statement, saying that traffic management was poor or non-existent at several points along the parade route. This sceptical line has now been picked up by the national press; over the weekend, the BBC published an article quoting local business owners and shop workers on Dale Street who say there were too many people on the street which should have been closed to traffic. 

Meanwhile, the chaos at Lime Street Station — where people queued for hours just to be admitted to the building — was attributed by metro mayor Steve Rotheram to the car attack itself. But eyewitnesses have commented that the shutdown happened much earlier than 6pm, around when the attack was first reported. 

In their initial statements, Network Rail cited unprecedented numbers of people trying to access Lime Street as the reason for the shutters coming down. Now, Network Rail have apologised for the incident and promised a full review into what went wrong.

What next? The “confusion” over what went wrong, both at Dale/Water Street and Lime Street Station, has led to calls for a formal investigation. Carl Cashman, leader of Liverpool’s Lib Dems, has written to council leader Liam Robinson asking for an independent inquiry into what led to the Water Street disaster. 

As for suspect Paul Doyle, he is due to appear in court on 14 August for a plea hearing. The trial itself, provisionally tabled for late November, will likely take three to four weeks, according to the BBC. 

A fundraising campaign for those affected has raised more than £50,000, a third coming from former Liverpool player Jamie Carragher's charity foundation. Those who wish to contribute can do so here.

Bottom line: When a horrifying incident like this occurs, the immediate atmosphere is often one of panic and, in the age of social media, misinformation. Everyone from witnesses, to journalists, to public bodies are faced with a cacophony of data points, often contradictory. But the responsibility to maintain a critical attitude and separate signal from noise is all the more vital for that.

It’s not unusual for newspapers to interview a suspect’s neighbours. But the national press’s decision to prioritise these comments have led to fears that a narrative is being manufactured in which the Liverpool fans themselves — who, in videos posted online, can be seen punching and kicking the Ford Galaxy prior to its acceleration through the crowd — are blamed. Whether or not these fears are justified, they are understandable among a city and a football fanbase still traumatised by the Hillsborough disaster and the media response which falsely claimed supporters were to blame. 

Let us know your thoughts in the comments below.

Photo of the week

A snapshot of last weekend’s victory parade through Liverpool, taken by Reddit user u/Qyenye. 

Have a photo to share? Email it to editor@livpost.co.uk for a chance to be featured in next week’s Monday briefing.

Your Post briefing

The Williamson Tunnels are facing closure "unless a miracle occurs", the manager of the heritage centre dedicated to preserving their legacy has said. The tunnels constitute a series of subterranean excavations in Edge Hill, dug by local workers under the direction of eccentric landowner and philanthropist Joseph Williamson between 1810 and 1840 for an unknown purpose. They were rediscovered in the 1990s, excavated by a group of volunteers, and have served as a visitor attraction since. The Joseph Williamson Society has paid a nominal rent for 25 years, but manager David Bridson said the society must now pay a commercial rent of £20,000 to the site’s owners — “way beyond the society's means". The alternative would be to buy the freehold at £275,000, also "way out of our reach" according to Bridson. To read our piece about the history of the Williamson Tunnels, click here.

The Shakespeare North Playhouse in Prescot is looking for a naming rights partner. The Playhouse, a replica Elizabethan/Jacobean theatre opened in 2022, said it wanted a deal similar to those for sport grounds — such as Everton’s new home, which was recently named the Hill Dickinson Stadium. It’s thought that this would be the first deal of its kind for a UK regional theatre. Lisa Allen, the theatre's chief executive, told BBC Radio Merseyside she would like the theatre to “find alternative funding streams" so it was less reliant on Knowsley Council; Allen also added there was currently no risk of the theatre closing down and that the council were “the most supportive” she’d ever worked with in her 30-year career in the arts. Shakespeare North cost £38 million to build and has hosted more than 300,000 visitors since 2022, a tenth of whom had never visited a theatre before according to the venue. The only purpose-built Elizabethan theatre outside London is thought to have existed in Prescot in the 1590s, which would have hosted performances of works by William Shakespeare. 

And plans to reopen Woolton Picture House have now been revealed. The cinema — which first opened its doors in December 1927, is the oldest in Liverpool and even stayed open during World War Two — closed in 2020 during the COVID-19 pandemic. Although residents quickly raised £24,000 for the venue via GoFundMe, very little communication from the owners followed, leading to criticism; The Post investigated the matter last year. Now, Kevin Fearon and Gillian Miller — who run the Royal Court theatre — have said they need £450,000 to buy the building and £250,000 redevelop it into a community venue "with a cinema at its heart". Fearon said he hoped a combination of further public donations and fundraising efforts and Heritage Lottery money would raise the £750,000 needed. 

Post Picks

🚶Help raise money for Wirral cancer charity Maggie’s this Friday by taking part in their 5km circular walk around New Brighton. You’ll get a warm scouse pie and a drink upon arrival, as well as a Maggie’s t-shirt. Sign up and find out more details here.

☕This weekend is the annual Coffee Festival, held over on Kings Dock Street. Sample some of the best coffees and coffee products around, meet local and national roasters, enjoy panel talks, professional tastings, latte art competitions and more. Tickets here.

🎻On Sunday, the internationally acclaimed London Concertante presents a new show at St George’s Hall, that reimagines the sounds of Radiohead in a symphonic setting. Grab a ticket here.

🎨Or, why not attend this Studio Ghibli painting session at Duke Street Market? Also held on Sunday, the session starts at 1.30pm with all materials provided. Details here.

Recommended reads

This is a heart-warming read from the BBC on Liverpool’s own Speedo Mick. Michael Cullen went from sleeping rough in Liverpool to raising £1m by doing charity walks in all weathers in his swimming trunks — now, they’re turning his life into a stage musical. You can watch that over at the Royal Court in Liverpool from 3 June to 5 July — details here.