Even after Daniel Barr’s intervention had brought the Ford Galaxy to a halt, Paul Doyle “continued to keep his foot on the accelerator”, Paul Greaney KC says.

This was despite there being a group of people, including a 77-year-old woman, trapped under the vehicle.

“It is clear in the circumstances that Paul Doyle was still trying to drive on,” the prosecutor adds.

By the time the car was fully stopped, the defendant had driven it into a collision with more than one hundred people, the court hears.

As well as suffering varying degrees of injuries, “very many” were placed into a state of terror, Greaney adds.

Victim left with ‘life-changing injury’ by attack tells of ‘carnage’ – and how he thought it was terrorists

Rob Darke spoke exclusively to Sky News about what happened to him on 26 May. 

He said he was attending Liverpool’s victory parade with his two sons, describing the experience as “absolutely fantastic”.

Everyone had a few drinks, but there was “no animosity”; everyone was very friendly, and it was a “great day”. 

Darke was going home early because he had work the next day and “that’s when it happened”.

He said he heard “shouting and screaming” and “people coming flying towards me” and then “bang”. 

“I just stepped off the curb and the car wheel crushed my foot,” Darke said.

“The pain was absolutely incredible.”

He added: “I thought it was terrorists. That’s the first thing that came into my head. Who else would do a thing like that?”

“It was like a bomb had gone off… it was carnage everywhere… people crying and screaming.”

Darke said he could hear “thumps from the car as people were being run over”, adding: “It was horrific.”

He was taken to hospital to be “stitched up” but was left in “excruciating pain” when the injury became infected and rushed to A&E, where “it was life or limb”.

He said he was in a wheelchair for three months and had been left with a “life-changing injury” and is undergoing counselling for PTSD.  

One of the 31 charges Paul Doyle pleaded guilty to was wounding Darke with intent.

Darke added: “Out of one and a half million people, why did it have to be me?”

Victims seen piled on top of each other underneath car

The court is being shown stills and footage from the body-worn camera of a police officer at the scene of the attack.

One image shows one male victim lying on top of another while both are trapped underneath Paul Doyle’s Ford Galaxy car.

Footage then showed emergency service workers holding one victim’s hand as they administered oxygen before pulling him out from underneath the vehicle.

A blood-stained shoe could also be seen lying beside the victim.

Doyle’s head was bowed again as the footage was played of paramedics pulling the people, including a young boy, from under the car.

‘I’ve just ruined my family’s life’, Doyle said in back of police van

Paul Greaney KC says police officers forced Paul Doyle into a police van after the attack.

This, he says, was done “in the midst of a hostile crowd”, adding that officers’ behaviour was both “brave and effective”.

When Doyle was securely in the van, Greaney says police body-worn footage picks up him saying: “I’ve just ruined my family’s life.”

Attacker accused of knife-wielding fan ‘invention’ to justify what he did

Paul Greaney KC describes the subsequent interview that Paul Doyle gave to police after the attack.

In the interview, Doyle claimed that he had been concerned for his own safety due to the apparent presence of a man holding a knife approaching his car.

Doyle said he feared for his life and “went into a blind panic” and decided to head for an ambulance up ahead.

“The prosecution’s case is that this was an invention designed to provide a justification for what the defendant did,” Greaney says.

“The police investigation has been unable to locate a single image of anyone with a knife in any of the footage, and no witness or other person to whom they have spoken has mentioned seeing a knife. 

“Our position is that this simply did not happen.”

Doyle also claimed that he had stopped his vehicle after realising that he had struck somebody.

“That was false. In truth, his driving had caused serious concern before he reached the traffic measures,” the prosecutor adds.

“As we’ve explained, he stopped because of a group of fans trapped beneath his vehicle and the actions of Daniel Barr.”