8 hours ago
4
It was the early evening of the Bank Holiday Monday by the time Daniel Barr and his brother met up for a pint in Shiraz on Williamson Square.
They had planned to watch the open-top bus parade to celebrate Liverpool FC's Premier League victory together, but, in the event, hadn't managed to find one another amongst the sea of red.
Ultimately, they had made it to where they were meant to be, marking a historic 20th league title with a beer. But, only minutes earlier, Dan had done something remarkable. Not that he would agree.
"I don't consider myself important," the 41-year-old laborer told the ECHO, just over six months on from the moment that he jumped into the back of Paul Doyle's Ford Galaxy on Water Street and heroically brought his car to a stop. Having desperately fought to pull the automatic vehicle's parking brake on, undoubtedly preventing many more fans from being injured and possibly even saving lives, he still admits: "I don't think it's sunk in."
The eerie 'silence' inside Paul Doyle's car
Dan, who previously served eight years in the army before leaving the forces in 2010, had taken the bus into Liverpool city centre earlier that May afternoon from his home in Birkenhead, recalling: "The plan was to meet my brother and my nephew. It was obviously getting packed by then already. They were happy where they were, I was happy where I was. I thought, we'll meet up after.
"It was good, apart from the weather. It still didn't really matter to be honest. It was good to see all the lunatics on the scaffolding and the buildings, just taking it all in. It was good entertainment."
Having watched the festivities from near to the George's Dock Building, Dan left the Strand and headed back into town after the players had been and gone, no doubt imagining that the sight of fans hanging precariously from every possible vantage point would be the height of the drama he would witness that day. But, as he neared Castle Street and the Town Hall, he saw Doyle's car, "snaking through people, throwing them everywhere".
Despite having barely seconds to process the mayhem and devastation that was unfolding in front of his very eyes, as Doyle indiscriminately ploughed his vehicle into 134 men, women and children, Dan showed exceptional calmness and poise, no doubt moulded during his tours of Iraq back in the noughties. For a split second, the car stopped. There wasn't a second thought in his mind.
"I'm not why or how, but he stopped momentarily, by the ambulance. That's when I took my opportunity. My thoughts were, I'm gonna punch that window through. All the doors must be locked, because everybody else is trying to get in desperately.
"I remember getting a bit of a run up to get to the rear left door, which is where I got in. I remember bracing myself, thinking to punch it through, if I could. At the last split second, something came over me and said, try the handle. I think it was luck that my door was open. I managed to get in.
"I dive straight in. I think I'm on all fours. As soon as I've got in, I remember thinking, at least we're in and we can stop this, whatever it is. As soon as that thought entered my head, the door slammed, because he accelerated off into lots of people.
"I remember, vividly, a change in audio from chaos, screaming, panicking and shock to relative silence inside his car. I tried all sorts. Reasoning, shouting, fighting, grabbing, grabbing the steering wheel. I remember looking for the keys, and I couldn't figure out how to get them."
'I could see everything, the utter disbelief on people's faces as they were getting hit'
Then, Dan clocked that Doyle's car was an automatic. He spied the parking brake."I knew, all I've got to do is punch that as hard as I can and keep it there, and it'll surely stop.
"I do remember him repeating, I'm not sure how many times he repeated it, it was along the lines of 'why won't they move out of my way?'. He wasn't going mad, not shouting, not stressed. It was strange, like a question, repeated over and over. That sticks in my head.
"It was like he was aware but he wasn't, because he was asking 'why won't they move out of my way?'. I don't really know how to answer that, but you're clearly killing them. That's all I remember.
"I'd have tried everything. If I thought violence would have done the job, then I'd have done that, no problem. But I do not believe that would have stopped him. It would probably have made it worse. It was a short period of time. I imagine it was between 10 and 20 seconds, I'm guessing. I remember the silence.
"Unfortunately, I could see everything. I could see the look on people's faces. I could see the utter disbelief as they were coming to get hit by him. There was nothing they could do. I'm sure some people would have managed to get out of the way. There weren't many places they could have gone.
"I don't know if you've ever had a dream where your car is out of control, everyone else is chilled but you know it's gonna go off. The worst part was, I had to do something about it. It was gonna get worse."
Dan clung onto the parking brake for dear life, and, eventually, the car came to a halt, no doubt due to a combination of his brave actions and several pedestrians, including a 12-year-old boy, having become trapped underneath the vehicle. "I was aware that it wasn't over. I believe he was trying to get back into drive. I remember that being my priority, to keep my arm there, because it's not over yet, in my head.
"I'm in a bit of a weird position, squeezing through the centre console. I remember thinking, the crowd are gonna help now, get him out. He had a seatbelt on. I could see the button [to release Doyle's seatbelt] there. They were trying to grab him out and he was accelerating still. As soon as I pressed that button, he was out of my face, just out of the situation."
'I think anybody would have done the same in my position'
Dan was able to take hold of Doyle's phone and hand it to a police officer, and with that, just as soon as it had all begun, he was back on his way, with only a minor cut to his head and a lost pair of glasses to show for his travails. "I walked up the street. It was chaos around the car with the police. God knows what they thought. Obviously, they piled in, surrounded the car.
"I remember walking past three casualties on the floor. I wasn't much use to them, they had two, three people around them and there were more people running in. I thought I'd best leave. I headed up towards the alleyway with Covent Garden, just off Water Street, and then made my way into town. There wasn't much telephone signal around. I phoned my brother and eventually got hold of him.
"I met up with him at St George's, him and my nephew. My head was bleeding. I don't know how that happened, but I had a cut head. I cleaned it up a bit and went for a pint with my brother, then tried to get home in all that chaos."
With a kindly neighbour having collected him from Lime Street, Dan headed back over the water for home. Over the coming days, he describes himself as being "just not myself, not Dan-like". While he may not say it, for better or worse, this will undoubtedly be a day that will live with him for the rest of his life.
But, today, he is remarkably blasé over his act of heroism, as if it was what should be expected of him. "I don't think it has hit me yet to be honest with you. I'm obviously aware that I've done something, but I think anybody would have done the same in my position. I was lucky to be in that position. But I don't think it's sunk in yet, the enormity of it.
"I definitely thought there would be people dead. It's a miracle that they're not. How there were no deaths, I'm not sure."
As Doyle was locked up for 21-and-a-half years on Tuesday, the Honorary Recorder of Liverpool Judge Andrew Menary KC formally commended Dan, labelling his actions "outstandingly brave" and honouring him with a High Sheriff's Award. But, characteristically stoic, this humble hero adds: "It still is a bit surreal. It is strange. It's been a bit heavy, to be honest with you."
English (US) ·