Gargasoulas found guilty

MELBOURNE man James Gargasoulas, 28, has been found guilty of multiple murders after a car rampage in Bourke Street in January last year during which 10-year-old Beth Rivkah Ladies College student Thalia Hakin and five other pedestrians were run down and killed.

It took the Supreme Court jury 57 minutes on Tuesday to reach their verdict.

The trial was shown CCTV footage of a composed Gargasoulas, both hands on the steering wheel, driving the car at speeds of more than 60 kilometres an hour at unsuspecting pedestrians around lunchtime on January 20, 2017.

He did not stop, even when a pram became lodged in the car’s windscreen. The video drew gasps from jurors.

The confronting footage included vision of Thalia holding her mother’s hand, her sister skipping along next to them, on their way to a magic show, when they were all hit. Aside from killing Thalia, the impact seriously injured her mother Nathalie and sister Maggie.

Gargasoulas had pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder and 27 of reckless conduct endangering life.
In the witness stand, Gargasoulas did not deny his involvement and gave a mostly incoherent rant, which included a reference to the Koran. His testimony drew several interjections from Justice Mark Weinberg.

Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd QC summed up the prosecution’s case, describing it to the jury as the “clearest case of criminal liability that you will ever come across … There is no issue of identity, the conduct itself is captured on CCTV.

“There is no real issue as to any of the elements that make up each of the various offences. There is no positive defence available.”

Gargasoulas is due for a plea hearing on January 29. He faces a number of life sentences and is due to be sentenced at a later date.

AJN STAFF

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