A former Royal Navy sailor has revealed he was the victim of a gruesome ear-biting attack by Paul Doyle, the man jailed for driving into crowds at the Liverpool victory parade last May. The shocking details of the 1994 assault emerged during Doyle's recent sentencing hearing.
A Violent Past Revealed in Court
Paul Doyle, 54, was sentenced to 21-and-a-half years in prison on Tuesday for using his Ford Galaxy to ram into families celebrating Liverpool's Premier League win. The court in Liverpool heard extensive details of his history of violence, which included bar fights and a particularly brutal incident at a motorway service station nearly three decades ago.
Stuart Lucas, a 68-year-old former Royal Navy reservist from East Lothian, Scotland, has now spoken publicly about the attack. He described how Doyle, then a 23-year-old marine, bit off a chunk of his ear during a fight at Charnock Richard services in Lancashire in 1994.
The Gruesome Service Station Attack
The altercation occurred while Doyle was travelling on a bus with 27 other sailors and one other marine to Barry, South Wales. Lucas, who held the rank of killick (leading hand), said he intervened after seeing Doyle "fly kick" two younger servicemen during a stop.
"I put him in a bear hug, strapping his arms to his sides, and we fell to the floor," Lucas recalled. "I still had him in a bear hug... but he could move his head and at that he promptly sunk his teeth into my ear and said, 'let go'."
Lucas said the pain forced him to release his grip, at which point Doyle "bit through it, chewed it up and spat it out". Lucas and his colleagues desperately searched the floor, found the piece of ear, placed it in a bag, and took it to hospital. However, doctors in Glasgow later confirmed it could not be reattached.
A Pattern of Violence and a Failed Military Career
This was not Doyle's first offence. The court heard he had a "scuffle" in a nightclub in 1991 after completing commando training, resulting in a conviction for assault. In February 1992, he was convicted of two military offences: using violence to a superior officer and conduct prejudicial to good order.
Doyle served in the military for four years, starting with the Royal Engineers before joining the Marines in 1991. He never saw active service and was discharged in 1993, just 22 months after enlisting, with his services "no longer required".
For the ear-biting attack, Doyle was jailed for 12 months in November 1994 for causing grievous bodily harm. He was released in 1995.
Decades of Apparent Reform Before May's Atrocity
In the following years, Doyle appeared to turn his life around. He studied maths and psychology at the University of Liverpool, built a successful IT career, and started a business selling baseball caps. This made his actions on May 26 all the more shocking.
Prosecutor Paul Greaney KC noted that Doyle's efforts at rehabilitation "only serve to make more shocking, and tragic, what he did in Liverpool that day". The attack left 134 people injured.
Doyle's barrister, Simon Csoka KC, said his client took months to accept the reality of his actions, struggling to reconcile them with the man he had been for the previous 30 years. The details of his violent past, long buried, have now resurfaced, painting a fuller picture of the man behind the wheel.
