A man accused of deliberately driving into a crowd of fans at Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade has been charged with 24 new offences, including assault against two babies.
Paul Doyle appeared at Liverpool Crown Court over video-link from prison and became tearful as he was asked to confirm his identity.
He was due to enter pleas to the seven counts he originally faced over the incident in May, but the court heard prosecutors had introduced 24 new counts to the indictment – a legal term for list of charges he faces.
Mr Doyle, of West Derby in Liverpool, was not asked to enter pleas to any charges after his barrister, Simon Csoka KC, asked for more time to consider the new counts.
More than 130 people were injured when a Ford Galaxy car ploughed into a crowd on Water Street, in Liverpool city centre, on the evening of 26 May.
The court heard 23 of the new charges reflected injuries to victims, while one was a count of affray.
Five of the victims were children aged between six months and 17 years old, the court heard. Two children were included in the original set of charges.
According to the indictment, 17 of the new counts were attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent, five of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and one of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
Mr Csoka told the court his client had only seen the detail of the new charges shortly before the hearing and had not had chance to read through new witness statements.
He said Mr Doyle had applied for a laptop while on remand in prison to enable him to view CCTV and other digital evidence, but that application had still not been decided, two months on.
A number of family members of those injured in the attack watched the hearing from the public gallery.
