Liverpool parade driver gets 21-plus years

He injured more than 130 people when he drove his minivan into a sea of soccer fans.

- BY BRIAN MELLEY

OFFICIALS at the scene in May. Many people said they feared a terrorist attack was unfolding and are still haunted by their memories.

(Jon Super Associated Press)

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 Tuesday to more than 21 years in prison.

Paul Doyle rammed his minivan through a sea of fans on May 26 in two minutes of horror that ended only when a bystander got in the vehicle and forced it into park. It came to a rest atop people.

"You struck people head on, knocked others onto the bonnet, drove over limbs, crushed prams and forced those nearby to scatter in terror," Judge Andrew Menary told Doyle in Liverpool Crown Court.

"You plowed on at speed and over a considerable distance, violently knocking people aside or simply driving over them, person after person after person."

Prosecutors said Doyle flew into a fury because he couldn't get where he was going fast enough to pick up friends who had attended the parade.