Almost 150 injured at LFC parade before Doyle incident, report reveals

Almost 150 people were injured during Liverpool FC's parade last May in circumstances not related to the Water Street incident, a new report has revealed.

Jubilant scenes turned to horror on 26 May 2025, when Paul Doyle drove his car into crowds on Water Street, injuring 130 people. Doyle later admitted 31 offences and was jailed for more than 21 years.

A report, which focused on the parade's organisation before the Water Street incident, found 146 patients were treated during the day, with the highest cause of injury being burns, North West Ambulance said.

A safety expert recommended tighter rules over the use of flares and new powers to stop people climbing on lampposts and scaffolding, which led to "high-risk behaviour".

Liverpool City Council commissioned the independent report into the staging of Liverpool FC's Premier League title victory parade last summer, which saw an estimated 1.2m people descend on the city to celebrate.

Safety expert Eric Stuart was tasked with looking at planning ahead of the parade last summer, in particular whether traffic and crowd management had been adequate.

In his evaluation, Stuart said that the "huge crowd" was the "biggest ever seen in the city" and there were several reasons for this - including the fact fans knew Liverpool had won the title early in the season and therefore had more time to plan a trip to the city to mark the occasion.

It was also the first victory parade of its kind, despite Liverpool previously winning the 2019-2020 season when Covid had prevented any extended celebration.

In addition, the parade was held at the end of a busy bank holiday weekend, falling at the same time as BBC Radio 1's Big Weekend and the arrival in the city of Cunard's Queen Anne to mark the cruise line's 185th anniversary.

Stuart suggested in future major events of this kind might be better held in isolation.

On the day in question, Stuart found the "vast majority of attendees" enjoyed the spectacle "in a spirit of good humour", but cited some irresponsible behaviour by social media-users which contributed to "high-risk behaviour" at the event.

"High-risk behaviour such as this is not specific to football, nor Liverpool, but is a behaviour observed globally nowadays.

"The desire to create a media moment and share it for 'likes' is boosted by the, sometimes, irresponsible behaviours of social media influencers," he said.

He also urged the media "to not live-stream dangerous behaviours - the use of flares or scaffold-climbing - in a way that celebrates poor behaviour or encourages others to follow suit".

He said Liverpool City Council should consider seeking support for a government clampdown on those manufacturing, importing, or supplying pyrotechnics.

In his report, Stuart found there was "a significant gap in legislation" regarding responsibilities for safety with regard to scaffolding, and unoccupied and empty buildings.

Social media videos from the day showed people on top of lampposts, roofs of bus shelters, as well as on scaffolding - particularly on a prominent building on The Strand.

Stuart said, currently, no powers exist to force landowners to "take action in advance of a parade of this nature" and called for new legislation - to permit authorities to ensure structures are safe in advance of significant public events.

Stuart concluded the city "could, should, and I have no doubt will" stage a parade of this scale again.

He recommended the council consider events with a long "lead-in" as national events - expanding planning for transport and staffing accordingly.

Reflecting on the success of major events such as the Eurovision Song Contest, he said Liverpool "embraces those challenges and will, I hope, continue to do so".