Australian man guilty of killing 6 in 2017 vehicle attack

Nov. 13 (UPI) -- An Australian man was convicted Tuesday for ramming a group of pedestrians last year that killed six and injured more than two dozen.

James Gargasoulas was found guilty of hitting the victims in Melbourne on Jan. 20, 2017. It took a Victorian Supreme Court jury less than an hour to return verdicts against Gargasoulas, 28, who claimed that he was under in a drug-induced psychosis at the time and that he had a premonition from God about running over people.

"His callous actions on that day shattered the lives of the family and friends whose loved ones he stole," attorney Genna Angelowitsch, who represents some of the victims, said in a statement after the conviction on six murder charges and 27 charges of reckless conduct endangering life.

Prosecutor Kerri Judd told jurors before Tuesday's verdict she believed the attack was the "clearest case of criminal liability that you will ever come across," the Australian Broadcasting Corp. reported.

Witnesses testified that Gargasoulas appeared to accelerate before he hit the pedestrians during the busy lunchtime period. Those killed were 3-month-old Zachary Matthew-Bryant; 10-year-old Thalia Hakin; Yosuke Kanno, 25; Bhavita Patel, 33; Jess Mudie, 22; and Matthew Si, 33.

Gargasoulas read a statement in court Tuesday.

"I apologize from my heart but that's not going to fix anything ... neither will a lengthy sentence fix what I done," he said, Australia's 9 News reported.