Australian who drove into crowd, killed 6, sentenced to life
Posted February 21, 2019 6:15 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
MELBOURNE, Australia — A man who drove a stolen car into lunchtime crowds in downtown Melbourne and killed six people was sentenced to life imprisonment in what the judge described as “one of the worst examples of mass murder in Australian history.”
James Gargasoulas, 29, showed little emotion when sentenced Friday in Victoria state’s Supreme Court. Under the terms of his sentence, he will spend at least 46 years in jail before he’s eligible for parole.
Families of the victims filled the courtroom for Justice Mark Weinberg’s ruling. Gargasoulas was in a drug-induced psychosis in January 2017 when he killed the six people and injured dozens more in the busy Bourke St. Mall.
His victims included a 3-month-old baby who was thrown 60 metres (200 feet) from his stroller and a 10-year-old girl.
The Associated Press
