A British man who injured more than 130 people by driving his car into crowds of Liverpool supporters during May’s Premier League title parade acted out of sheer anger after losing his temper, prosecutors told a court on Monday as his sentencing hearing began.

Paul Doyle, 54, has admitted to 31 offences, including nine counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and 17 counts of attempted grievous bodily harm. He appeared at Liverpool Crown Court, where prosecutor Paul Greaney said Doyle deliberately targeted pedestrians while acting “in a rage”.

The court was told that 134 people were injured in the incident, including eight children—one of whom was just six months old. Greaney said some witnesses initially believed the incident was a terrorist attack when Doyle drove his Ford Galaxy into dense crowds on May 26.

However, prosecutors stressed that Doyle’s actions were not motivated by ideology. “The truth is a simple one,” Greaney said. “Paul Doyle lost his temper in his desire to get to where he wanted to be. In a rage, he drove into the crowd, intending to cause serious harm to those in his path.”

Horror on a day of celebration

Greaney said around one million people had gathered across Liverpool to celebrate the club’s 20th English league title, lining the streets to watch an open-top bus parade carrying the players, staff and the Premier League trophy.

Shortly after the team’s bus passed, crowds began dispersing as Doyle drove into the city centre to collect friends who had attended the parade. Over the course of approximately two minutes shortly after 6pm, Doyle used his vehicle “as a weapon”, repeatedly accelerating into pedestrians before eventually coming to a stop and being arrested.

“He not only caused injury on a large scale,” Greaney told the court, “but also created terror among people who believed they were attending a day of joy.”

Jurors were shown what the prosecutor described as “truly shocking” dashcam footage, which captured Doyle angrily shouting for people to move, sounding his horn and then accelerating into the crowd. The footage showed individuals striking the windscreen and being dragged beneath the vehicle.

Mr Justice Andrew Menary is expected to deliver Doyle’s sentence on Tuesday.