Victims of Liverpool parade car crash can be named

Telegraph

2 days ago

The adults injured in the Liverpool victory parade crash can now be named, a court has ruled.
Liverpool Crown Court has lifted the reporting restrictions placed on the names of the four adults who Paul Doyle, former Royal Marine, has been charged with wounding.
The ruling comes four days after Mr Doyle, 53, appeared in court charged with injuring football fans in the crash last Monday.
The four individuals were among dozens hurt after a car ploughed into crowds celebrating Liverpool FC's Premier League title win.
A total of 109 people, including children, were injured. The youngest was nine and the eldest 78. Four people remain in hospital.
Mr Doyle appeared at Liverpool magistrates' court on Friday charged with seven offences, including causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent and dangerous driving.
Two of the six victims in the indictment are children, aged 11 and 17, who cannot be named because of their age.
But the four, an 18-year-old boy, a 52-year-old man and two women aged 66 and 77, told police they would rather not be named in any media reports, the court heard.
Andrew Menary KC, the recorder of Liverpool, said in his ruling: 'They refer to distress and concern about testifying... and feel that the quality of their evidence and their willingness to co-operate with the criminal investigation and prosecution might be adversely affected by such reporting.'
The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had sought a continuation of the order barring the four adults being named, arguing that this would ensure the quality of their evidence at any future trial.
Legal representatives for the media said the incident had been widely reported and the victims were likely to be viewed with great sympathy by the public.
They argued that any restriction on the victims being named would impair the media's ability to carry out its duty of reporting on any future trial, when the victims would be called to give evidence in open court.
Ruling that they could be named, the recorder stated: 'Most people would say that if they were ever required to give evidence in court proceedings they would prefer not to have their involvement publicised.
'However, emotional upset alone does not meet the threshold. The law does not permit anonymity to be granted to adult witnesses simply because publicity will be unwelcome or uncomfortable.
'The public nature of this incident, and the apparent blameless status of the complainants, makes it difficult to see how identification would deter them from testifying.'
He added: 'The effect of the restriction would be to impose a substantial and unreasonable restriction on reporting. The charges are serious. The victims are central to the narrative. Their anonymity would diminish the human interest and limit public engagement.
'In my judgment the public interest in open and accurate reporting outweighs the potential distress, anxiety or discomfort to these witnesses. The restriction is not necessary or proportionate, nor convincingly established.'
An order under Section 45 of the Youth Justice and Criminal Evidence Act 1999, which protects the identity of the two injured boys, aged 11 and 17, has not been challenged by the media and will remain in place indefinitely.
On Friday, Mr Doyle had appeared ashen-faced and tearful as he was led into the dock speaking only to confirm his name and address.
He stood with his head bowed and hands clasped before him as each of the seven charges against him were read.
Standing behind a row of packed press benches, Mr Doyle shook his head when Philip Astbury, prosecuting, told the court the car had been used 'as a weapon', and that 'the defendant drove deliberately at people among the crowd as they started to leave'.
Mr Astbury added: 'The allegations are serious. The penalty, should he be convicted, is likely to be a substantial one.'
The recorder said he would not grant bail to Mr Doyle and he was remanded in custody to appear on Aug 14 for a plea hearing.
Mr Doyle, a businessman and data security expert, lives in the West Derby area of Liverpool. He and his wife have three children, and bought their four-bed detached house in 2017 for £192,000.
After serving in the Royal Marines for four years between 1990 and 1994, he graduated with a BSc in Psychology & Maths from the University of Liverpool in 1998.
Mr Doyle worked as a network security engineer and manager in the private sector and the NHS, going on to set up a firm called Farout Caps, which he ran as a retail mail order venture from his home.