What we know about the Liverpool car suspect
Police are continuing to question a driver accused of ploughing his car into a crowd at Liverpool FC's victory parade.
The 53-year-old man is currently in custody following his arrest shortly after the incident on Water Street on bank holiday Monday evening.
The extension to question the man came in on Wednesday, and remains until later today, Merseyside Police said.
A force spokesman said seven people remain in hospital in a stable condition after the collision and they had identified 79 people who were injured in the incident.
Detective Superintendent Rachel Wilson said: 'I want to reassure the public of Merseyside that detectives are making significant progress as we seek to establish the full circumstances that led to what happened.
'In addition, extensive CCTV inquiries are being carried out across the city to establish the movements of the car, a Ford Galaxy, before the incident took place.'
Merseyside Police quickly described the suspect as a 53-year-old white British man following his arrest. They have since said that he is from West Derby in Liverpool.
Police have not revealed any more about the suspect but reports in the media have given more details on who he is.
The Telegraph reports that the suspect is a married father-of-three who is a company director and has previously run multiple businesses.
Neighbours told the paper he was active and well travelled, holidaying in several different exotic locations. Another neighbour told The Times that he was a 'genuinely pleasant family man'.
The Daily Mail reports that the suspect's children are all teenagers, and police have been parked outside his detached home since his arrest.
Currently, the police have not charged the suspect with anything while they continue to question him.
However, a force spokesperson said on Wednesday that he was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and drug driving.
Attempted murder carries a sentence range of three to 40 years, with the maximum being life imprisonment.
The punishment for dangerous driving could be an unlimited fine, a driving ban and up to 14 years in prison, while drug driving could see someone given a minimum 12-month driving ban, an unlimited fine and up to six months in prison.
Police typically do not release the identity of a suspect after they have been arrested, so it is not unusual that we don't know who the Liverpool suspect is yet.
In recent years, courts have held that individuals who have been arrested usually have a right to privacy before they are charged with an offence.
The College of Policing advise against naming suspects until they are formally charged, except in specific cases – such as when public safety is at risk or to aid an investigation.
Additionally, data protection laws, including GDPR, restrict sharing personal information unless justified.
Naming someone too early could also prejudice ongoing investigations or future court proceedings by influencing witnesses or public opinion.
In high-profile cases, police may delay identification to manage media attention and ensure a fair process.
However, once someone is charged, their identity is often made public, as court proceedings are generally open to the public.
There was noticeably more information issued by the police immediately after the incident on Monday than would be expected.
However, this came following criticism levelled at Merseyside Police for their lack of information in the aftermath of the Southport knife attacks last year.
One of Merseyside Police's former inspectors, Peter Williams, a senior lecturer in policing at Liverpool John Moores University, said the force had adopted a "complete step change" in how it shares information.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme on Tuesday: 'It has been a shift, because, particularly in relation to the aftermath of Southport... there was a lot of criticism focused at Merseyside Police and of course the CPS [Crown Prosecution Service], in relation to how the management of information was sort of dealt with.'
Williams said that the force may have been mindful of how information was handled by Lancashire Constabulary in the disappearance of Nicola Bulley in January 2023, which led to a College of Policing inquiry.
Former Metropolitan Police chief superintendent Dal Babu told BBC Radio 5 Live that the decision to release so much information about the suspect was 'unprecedented'.
He said: 'It's remarkably striking because police will not release that kind of information because they'll be worried about prejudicing any future trial, but I think they have to balance that against the potential of public disorder.'
Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley also said forces will more often have to release personal details about suspects earlier.
He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme: 'In general, I think we have to be realistic and more often… put more personal details in public, earlier.'
He added that we are in an age of citizen journalism and 'some content will be all over social media very, very quickly' and people will be 'making guesses and inferences' so 'in that world, putting more facts out is the only way to deal with it'.
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