The police confirmed the alleged driver was a 53-year-old white man from Merseyside within hours of the horror crash incident.
The car is believed to have tailgated an ambulance through a roadblock at Liverpool FC’s Premier League victory parade on Monday evening and ploughed into a crowd of fans, injuring 65 people.
Peter Williams, senior lecturer in policing at Liverpool John Moores University, told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme there has been a “shift” in their approach.
He said: “It has been a shift, because, particularly in relation to the aftermath of Southport… there was a lot of criticism focused at Merseyside Police and of course the CPS, in relation to how the management of information was sort of dealt with.”
He later added: “It was no surprise to me last night that within an hour or so, we got a statement to say what had happened and that somebody, a male, had been detained.
“Later on, there was a press conference led by the Assistant Chief Constable, where she shared a lot more information.
“As that investigation progresses, which will be a major one led by the major investigation team, that will be shared with the public, so there’s been a complete step change in how the police will be communicating what has occurred with the public.”
Julia Hartley-Brewer
Over on Talk TV Julia Hartley-Brewer questioned why Merseyside Police announced “so quickly” that the Liverpool crash driver was White, in contrast to the Southport attack.
In response, one person wrote: “Immediately after an atrocity – “Tell us the attackers race” They tell us the attackers race and it’s not what they wanted/expected – “why are you telling us the race so quickly!” Can’t win with this lot..”
If that wasn’t enough Ben Habib said: “I don’t believe… it’s hard to believe that a 53-year-old white man would get in a car & drive it through a crowd in Liverpool… I just find that hard to believe.”
In response, Steve Rotheram told Sky News: “Facts are the right way to do it… the police acted quickly to dampen that sort of speculation, because it was designed to inflame & divide. The message of hate doesn’t go down well here…”
One X account wrote: “It’s weird how the MAGA influencers immediately stopped talking about the Liverpool car ramming incident, once it was revealed the driver was just another middle aged, angry, white guy.”
Related: Laurence Fox and Joey Barton pilloried for hasty Liverpool crash comments
