Ex-soldier who stopped Paul Doyle’s car hailed as a hero in court

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Dan Barr, 41, managed to stop Paul Doyle, who injured 134 people, from continuing to drive through the crowds on Water Street in Liverpool city centre after Liverpool FC’s victory parade on May 26. Despite suffering cuts to his head following a ‘scuffle’ with Doyle, Barr said he only did what most other people on the street were trying to do. ‘I don’t think it’s anything special.

Barr, who served for eight years in the Royal Engineers, said he saw an opportunity to get in when Doyle’s Ford Galaxy stopped with the rear passenger door about five paces away from him. Daniel Barr said he managed to get in the backseat of Doyle’s car and stop him (Picture: PA) He added: ‘My intention was to punch the window through.

While inside, Barr said he got the impression it was a ‘family car’ and remembered Doyle repeating the words ‘why won’t they move out my way?’ ‘Eventually, this could be like two seconds, I don’t know, I remember seeing the automatic gear stick, so from the back seat I reached through, and I’ve pushed it as far as I could, as hard as I could, into ‘P’ which has brought the car to a stop.’ Doyle injured some 134 people in the chaos (Picture: PA) Doyle kept trying to rev the engine as Barr held the gearstick in park mode. ‘He had no chance, he wasn’t going to move my arm,’ Barr said. ‘No way, he could try to chop it off or whatever. I remember that much.’ While holding the gear stick in place, he reached forward with his other hand and pressed Doyle’s seatbelt buckle. ‘As soon as I pressed that, he was gone,’ he said. ‘The crowd were trying to get him out, from what I remember, the windows were getting smashed, everybody was trying to get in, rightfully so.’ After leaving the car, Barr carried on making his way up the road and later met his brother, who had also been in the city for the parade. ‘I imagine I told him at a million miles an hour, something roughly that made sense, and then went for a pint,’ he said.