Hakins: ‘Little consolation’
THE father of murdered Jewish schoolgirl Thalia Hakin has expressed relief that the ordeal of experiencing James Gargasoulas' trial is finally over, after his daughter's murderer – who killed six people in a 2017 car rampage – was convicted and jailed for 46 years.
THE father of murdered Jewish schoolgirl Thalia Hakin has expressed relief that the ordeal of experiencing James Gargasoulas’ trial is finally over, after his daughter’s murderer – who killed six people in a 2017 car rampage – was convicted and jailed for 46 years.
Tony Hakin told The AJN that he and his wife Nathalie “are relieved that the trial has concluded with a successful conviction and the coronial inquest can now perform its task of identifying why it all went so horribly wrong”.
However, he added, “For my part, any punishment meted out to the offender offers little consolation to either myself or my family.”
A coronial inquest will be held and is expected to focus on the role of the Victoria Police Critical Incident Response Team on the day of Gargasoulas’ rampage.
Gargasoulas was sentenced on Friday to 46 years’ imprisonment without parole in the Supreme Court of Victoria – six life terms – for what Justice Mark Weinberg called a “callous and cowardly act”.
Beth Rivkah College student Thalia, 10, was one of six people killed by Gargasoulas as he mowed down pedestrians in Bourke Street on January 20, 2017. Thalia’s mother Nathalie has since recovered from critical injuries and sister Maggie, then 9, from serious injuries.
While prosecutors had called for a life sentence with no prospect for release, Weinberg said he weighed Gargasoulas’ mental health in establishing a prospect for parole in 2065 when the mass killer, now 29, will be aged in his mid-70s.
Describing the massacre as “one of the worst examples of mass-murder in Australian history”, Weinberg rejected any idea that Gargasoulas was unaware of his crimes while he was committing them that day, despite driving around Melbourne in a drug-induced psychosis.
“You knew full well what you were doing,” Weinberg stated.
PETER KOHN
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