Liverpool parade crash latest: Youngest victim aged 9 as suspect questioning ongoing

A Liverpool fan run down at the club’s victory parade has described how he “locked eyes” with the driver and “pleaded for him to stop” moments before the car ploughed into him.

Jack Trotter, 22, was enjoying celebrating his team’s success when he found himself “face to face” with the Ford Galaxy on Water Street in the city centre on Monday.

The stricken Northern Irishman was helped by fellow fans and locals into a nearby pub until emergency services arrived to take him to hospital.

Photos of the father-of-one being carried by two firemen while wearing a Liverpoolscarf were on the front pages of several national papers on Tuesday.

Mr Trotter, from Newtownards, County Down, escaped without serious injury and has been discharged from hospital, but fears he could be left with walking problems for weeks.

Messages of support were sent to the people of Liverpool, including from the King, who said: “I know that the strength of community spirit for which your city is renowned will be a comfort and support to those in need.”

The Prince and Princess of Wales said they were deeply saddened by the crash, adding: “What should have been a joyful celebration ended with tragedy.”

Police have not revealed which drug the arrested man was suspected of taking, saying: “We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation.”

They have arrested him on suspicion of attempted murder, dangerous driving offences, and driving “whilst unfit through drugs” and have been given extended powers to keep him in custody for more questioning.

Merseyside police shared early on in the investigation that he was a 53-year-old white British man from the Merseyside area, later revealing he’s from West Derby.

The suspected driver arrested after almost 80 people were injured when a car ploughed into crowds at the Liverpool victory parade has been revealed to be a father-of-three.

Senior reporter Holly Evans reports:

A neighbour of the suspect has revealed that the wife only realised what had what had happened with the crash when she saw her car, a Ford Galaxy, on television.

The neighbour told The Sun: “The wife is a really nice woman and they have children.”No one can believe this has happened.

“She first realised when she saw it was her car on the telly, when she saw it being driven at the parade.”

A man wrongly identified on social media as being the driver of a car which ploughed into a crowd of people in Liverpool has had to move his children out of their home out of fears for their safety.

Photos of Peter Cunningham, 54, circulated online after the incident which injured 79 people.

The Liverpool native told the BBC that he had been with his children four miles away from Water Street along the parade route

He said of the false accusations: “It’s not me. I’m in work – the police need to give the [suspect’s] name out because I’m getting accused.

“Family members and friends are ringing and asking me, but it could get a whole lot worse. The police need to do something,” he warned.

“I was down Queens Drive with my children. I’m in a completely different car anyway, I’ve got a Hyundai.”

He said: “It can still put me at great harm, I’ve had to move my children to a different house today because we’re that nervous.”

The youngest victim injured in the Liverpool title parade crash on Monday was aged just nine, police said.

The eldest victim was 78 and all those injured are understood to be British, Merseyside Police said on Thursday in response to journalists’ questions asked at a press conference on Tuesday.

The force declined to answer what drug the 53-year-old man who remains in custody is suspected of taking, saying: “We wouldn’t go into this detail at this stage of the investigation.”