The motorist who drove into Liverpool fans during a victory parade was allegedly high on drugs, it was revealed yesterday.
The 53-year-old is said to have tailgated an ambulance racing to a heart attack victim before unleashing horror on the city centre’s streets.
He struck fans at up to 30mph near the city’s waterfront, which had been closed to traffic.
The man was being questioned last night on suspicion of multiple attempted murders, being unfit to drive through drugs and dangerous driving.Â
About 50 individuals, including four children, required medical attention after chaos ensued at the conclusion of the open-topped bus celebrations of the Premier League champions on Monday evening.
Eleven victims were stable and recovering well in hospital last night, but police sources said it was a miracle no one had died.
In a show of solidarity, Princess Anne visited the medical staff who tended to the injured at the Royal Liverpool University Hospital, while King Charles conveyed a supportive message to the people of Liverpool, stating: ‘I believe that the renowned strength of community spirit in your city will provide solace and assistance to those in need.’
He said it was ‘truly devastating’ that what should have been a joyous celebration for many had ended ‘in such distressing circumstances’.
‘Our thoughts and sincerest condolences are with all those impacted, and I extend special appreciation to the first responders, emergency service personnel, and other individuals who promptly came to aid the injured,’ he further mentioned.
The Prince and Princess of Wales also said they were ‘deeply saddened’ by the attack.
An estimated one million people flooded the city and lined the streets along the ten-mile trophy parade route to celebrate with the Liverpool team on Bank Holiday Monday.
The attack occurred just after 6pm on Water Street, a road off The Strand – the main thoroughfare in front of the Royal Liver Building – which the team bus had passed moments before.
Water Street was packed with supporters walking to catch trains, taxis and lifts home.
The footage shows fans being catapulted into the air and some trapped under the wheels. Fire crews extracted four people, including a child, from under the vehicle.
A source told the Mail that the incident was ‘more road rage, not terror’.
‘It seems the driver was panicked or frightened or both, but what happened next was terrible,’ they said.
One couple who were hit by the car that ploughed through Liverpool FC fans on Monday relived the trauma of their ordeal last night.
Jack Trotter, who escaped with injuries to his leg and back, feared his young son would become fatherless as the Ford Galaxy bore down on him.
‘It’s the thought that somebody tried to seriously injure me… kill me,’ Mr Trotter said. ‘He knew fine well what he was doing. This was no accident.’
It was always going to be an unforgettable day for a million or so fans who took to the city’s streets to celebrate a record-equalling 20th league title.
But not like this.
Mr Trotter had travelled from his home in Newtownards, Northern Ireland, with his girlfriend, Abbie Gallagher.
‘The car just started ramming through people,’ he told Sky News. ‘I put my hands up to try and protect myself and get him to stop but he tried to ram right through me.
‘I dodged the middle of the bonnet but he was able to clip my legs. The adrenaline kicked in and I got myself back up.
‘The first thing I done was try and get to Abbie. When I realised Abbie was OK the adrenaline went off and I realised I was in a lot of pain and collapsed on the wall. I’m in absolute agony.
‘I can’t get it out of my head how traumatic the experience was.’
Mr Trotter, who was discharged from hospital yesterday on crutches, said: ‘I’ve got a little boy back home and it’s the thought he could have been taking me away from him.’
Ms Gallagher told how she pushed herself off the bonnet of the car as it ploughed at her.
She said they lost each other in the confusion, adding: ‘Everything was mental. Everyone was crying. I was in hysterics. I couldn’t find him for five minutes. There’s people in the air. I freaked out.’
Luckily, he heard her screaming and they were reunited.
Fans carried Mr Trotter into a nearby bar, where he was treated by firefighters and paramedics before being taken to hospital. The parade had begun four hours earlier, with Liverpool a sea of red, fireworks and flares peppering the sky, fans straining to catch a glimpse of their idols as the club’s open-topped bus snaked through the city.
Shortly before 6pm, it passed the Royal Liver Building. But within minutes, the inexplicable acts of a suspected drug-addled maniac turned these scenes of joy into barely imaginable terror, as his car – tailgating an ambulance heading to treat a fan having a suspected heart attack – went through a roadblock and ploughed into fans, injuring 65 people. Eleven of them remained in hospital last night.
It seems a miracle that no one was killed. Mobile phone footage posted on social media captured the commotion.
Moments after entering Dale Street, the Ford Galaxy was surrounded by hundreds of fans leaving the parade route. Suddenly, it stopped and reversed, colliding with a man who kicked at the boot and punched its rear window before it reversed again, hitting him harder.
Fans pleaded with the driver, but the car lurched forward.
Some fans managed to open the driver’s door, only for the man behind the wheel to wrench it closed again while sounding his horn and revving hard.
The Ford managed to make it a further 200 yards through the throng to adjoining Water Street. There, at the junction with Rumford Street, stewards had parked a truck as a roadblock to stop vehicles travelling down to The Strand, the scene of the parade.
But when reports came in of a medical emergency the truck was moved to allow an ambulance through and the Ford followed closely behind.
By this point, there were a number of police officers at the scene, and fans were angrily striking the vehicle. The vehicle came to a halt in Water Street, where it was surrounded by hundreds of confused, angry fans. Some used weapons to attack it.
Last night, Jenny Sims, Assistant Chief Constable of Merseyside Police, defended the policing of the event and insisted there had been a ‘robust’ traffic plan in place.
Water Street had been blocked off at the junction of Rumford Street by stewards who had parked a truck across it to stop vehicles entering.
One of them moved the truck temporarily to allow an ambulance to enter following reports that a fan was having a heart attack.
Ms Sims said there was no intelligence to suggest an attack was planned, and armed police officers, including snipers who were deployed to rooftops around the city, were present as a safety measure.
The incident is not being treated as terror related, she stressed, adding: ‘We had worked extensively with event organisers and key partner agencies in the months ahead of the potential parade, and a robust traffic management plan was in place, which included a number of local authority road closures throughout the route and the city centre. This included Water Street, which was closed to traffic.’
Liverpool mayor Steve Rotheram said ‘legitimate questions’ needed to be asked about how the car got access to the street, which was meant to be closed.
‘Water Street was not a route vehicles were supposed to be using,’ he said. ‘The questions are legitimate, but we have to give the police the time to conclude their investigations.’ He was joined on a visit to the police cordon at 5.30pm last night by Home Secretary Yvette Cooper.
CCTV from Dale Street, which leads into Water Street and was not closed, appeared to show the white British driver edging his car through crowds prior to the attack.
Video posted on social media also showed supporters banging on his rear and back windows, before he quickly reversed, seemingly antagonising them.
By the time the car reached the end of Dale Street and the start of Water Street, its back window was smashed.
The driver, who lives in West Derby, a suburb five miles north of the city centre, then ploughed into the crowds, who were largely walking in the opposite direction.
The Prime Minister said: ‘Scenes of joy turned to utter horror and devastation, and my thoughts and the thoughts of the whole country are with all of those that are affected, those injured.’
Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said it was ‘sickening’ to hear how many children were among the injured.
