UK man changes plea, admits driving into Liverpool FC parade

LONDON - A British man changed his plea Wednesday and admitted deliberately ploughing his car into crowds at Liverpool Football Club's Premier League victory parade in May, in a dramatic twist in his court case.

Paul Doyle had initially denied the 31 charges, including for causing grievous bodily harm with intent, wounding with intent, affray and dangerous driving, during the 26 May Liverpool city centre incident which injured dozens, including infants and children.

On the second day of his trial Doyle, wearing a suit and glasses, sobbed in the dock as he entered his guilty pleas to each count.

He will be sentenced over two days starting on 15 December.

Judge Andrew Menary told him to prepare for "a custodial sentence of some length".

Doyle, from a suburb of Liverpool and reportedly a former Royal Marine, ploughed his Ford Galaxy Titanium into scores of people as they were leaving the May 26 parade celebrating Liverpool's victory.

He injured 134 people, including infants, other children and adults, according to Merseyside Police.

Therewere no fatalities, but 50 people required hospital treatment.

The victims had been celebrating the club claiming a record-equalling 20th English top-flight title when the Premier League season ended the previous day.

Its players had paraded the trophy along the city's waterfront in front of hundreds of thousands of fans.

Some roads in the central area had been closed to normal traffic to allow the parade to pass.

Police swiftly declared that the incident was not terrorism. But the circumstances of the alleged attack have remained largely unclear.

Sarah Hammond, the Crown Prosecution Service's top regional prosecutor, said Doyle had "finally accepted that he intentionally drove into crowds of innocent people".

She noted dashcam footage from his vehicle showed he became "increasingly agitated by the crowds" and that "rather than wait for them to pass, he deliberately drove at them, forcing his way through".

"Driving a vehicle into a crowd is an act of calculated violence," she added.

"This was not a momentary lapse by Paul Doyle - it was a choice he made that day and it turned celebration into mayhem."

The criminal charges related to 29 victims, including eight who were children at the time. The youngest was six months old.

Father-of-three Doyle, who has been in custody since his arrest, will remain in prison ahead of his sentencing.

He had originally been charged with seven offences, but 24 new counts were added to the indictment in August.