Bourke Street driver James Gargasoulas has been found guilty of murdering six pedestrians and recklessly injuring another 27 when he sped along a footpath in Melbourne’s CBD last year.
The jury deliberated for just 57 minutes before returning the verdict, ending a trial in the Victorian Supreme Court which lasted less than a week.
Conclusive CCTV evidence was played in court, showing Mr Gargasoulas’ victims in their final moments, walking along the footpath, oblivious to the car coming behind them.
They were then hit by the car, with one victim, three-month-old boy Zachary Matthew-Bryant, landing 68 metres from where he was struck.
Six people were killed: Yosuke Kanno, 25, Bhavita Patel, 33, Jess Mudie, 22, Matthew Si, 33, and Thalia Hakin, 10.
The court was told the 28-year-old was driving at speeds of more than 60 kilometres per hour, and had not stopped driving even when a pram he hit became lodged in the car’s windscreen.
Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd QC closed the prosecution case by telling the jury it was 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 positive defence available,” she said.
During the trial, witnesses gave evidence of Mr Gargasoulas’ composure as he accelerated down the footpath, with both hands on the steering wheel, during the busy lunchtime period on January 20, 2017.
