Jury unable to agree on fitness for trial
A JURY in the Supreme Court of Victoria tasked with deciding whether accused Bourke Street murderer Dimitrious Gargasoulas is fit to stand trial has been discharged after failing to come to a unanimous decision.
A JURY in the Supreme Court of Victoria tasked with deciding whether accused Bourke Street murderer Dimitrious Gargasoulas is fit to stand trial has been discharged after failing to come to a unanimous decision.
Ten-year-old Beth Rivkah student Thalia Hakin was one of six people killed when the defendant allegedly mowed down pedestrians in Bourke Street in January last year.
Medical experts, including three psychiatrists and one psychologist, who have given evidence to Justice Lex Lasry and the jury at the hearing, all agree Gargasoulas suffers from paranoid schizophrenia.
Two of the psychiatrists said they believed the defendant is mentally unfit to stand trial, including Dr Andrew Carroll who gave evidence that Gargasoulas has a “messianic delusional belief that he is the saviour”, which makes him unfit for trial. But Professor Michael Daffern, a psychologist engaged by the prosecution, told the court Gargasoulas is fit to stand trial and that the defendant understands the various pleas he could enter.
Justice Lasry discharged the jury of eight men and four women on Friday after it deliberated for three days but did not reach a decision.
Gargasoulas, 28, has pleaded not guilty to six counts of murder, 28 counts of attempted murder, and to other charges, after he allegedly used a vehicle to run down pedestrians in the CBD on January 20 last year.
Justice Lasry ordered that a certificate be prepared for Gargasoulas to be treated at Thomas Embling Hospital, a secure mental health facility. The matter will return to court late next month.
AJN STAFF
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