Questions are being asked about how so many people ended up injured at a parade to celebrate Liverpool FC’s victory in the Premier League.
On Monday, hundreds of thousands of Scousers packed into the city centre to cheer on the team from an open top bus.
Around 6PM, a car then crashed into dozens of people, hospitalising 11.
A 53-year-old man has been arrested on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving and driving while unfit through drugs.
On Newstalk Breakfast, former police officer Graham Wettone said the focus must now move onto whether the tragedy could have been prevented.
“The inquiry has to establish how that car got onto the parade route,” he said.
“So, at some point, most of those parade routes have got barriers in place with either security staff, stewards or police officers manning those barriers.
“The information coming out at the moment is he may have tailgated, as in followed, an ambulance that was responding to a heart attack along the parade route.
“So, the inquiry has to establish how he managed to get so close to an ambulance and still managed to get through a vehicle barrier onto the parade route and in amongst the huge crowds that were celebrating.”
Our CEO Billy Hogan has issued a message following the incident that occurred on Water Street during Monday’s trophy parade in the city.
— Liverpool FC (@LFC) May 27, 2025
Mr Wettone said that with such a large number of people, crowd control “can be quite challenging”.
He added it can be even more of a challenge when you open a gate to allow a person or vehicle to go through a barrier.
“Then people start to walk through, you’re trying to escort an ambulance through at the same time,” he said.
“They’ll have to establish how close the vehicle was, how long the barrier was open for, how long it was open for?”
Saddened and shocked by the scenes at the Liverpool trophy parade.
My thoughts and prayers to all those injured or impacted, and the emergency crews responding tonight.
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) May 26, 2025
When asked if he thought there was enough of a police presence, Mr Wettone said he thought there was.
“Hindsight is a wonderful gift," he said.
"If you looked at this before this awful incident took place, no matter how many officers were probably deployed to this huge event, some people would have baulked at that number I would imagine.
“But now we’re looking at it with the benefit of hindsight… but there was no identified risk or threat to this.”
In statement, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer said, "Liverpool stands together and the whole country stands with them".
Main image: The aftermath of the crash in Liverpool. Picture by: Ken Biggs/Alamy Live News
