Current James Gargasoulas Bourke St killer

James Gargasoulas, who went on a rampage through Melbourne’s Bourke Street and mowed down pedestrians, has been found guilty of murdering six people and endangering the life of 27 others.

A supreme court jury took just over an hour to find the 28-year-old, who admitted killing six people in a Bourke Street rampage on 20 January 2017, guilty of all charges.





Yesterday, prosecutors argued Gargasoulas should never be released.

Gargasoulas, 29, faced the Supreme Court on Tuesday for a pre-sentence hearing that will help decide whether the killer will one day be eligible for parole, or authorities throw away the key.

His criminal history was laid out, with the court hearing that between 2009 and 2014 Gargasoulas faced nearly two dozen violence-related charges including assaulting police, reckless conduct endangering serious injury, recklessly causing injury, unlawful assault, driving offences and aggravated burglary.

On at least two occasions he had escaped from police.

In documents submitted to the court on Tuesday, Crown prosecutors argued Gargasoulas' crimes represented the worst examples of murder in Victoria and he should never be granted parole.

Gargasoulas' offending showed "unspeakable disregard" for the sanctity of human life, the prosecution said.


Criminal History

He's back in court today as victims tell of the trauma he caused.

Of course there are six killed but one who died was Zachary Matthew-Bryant. He was asleep next to his two-year-old sister, Zara, when their pram was hit by a car speeding up the footpath in January, 2017.

Their pram became lodged in the windscreen of the car, which was driven by James Gargasoulas.


pram.jpg





Presentencing Hearing Continues
 
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Burton89onegoal

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With this and the Darwin shootings and so many more, its amazing that our society still hasnt worked out how to implement better safeguards against people who have demonstrated a propensity for violence over a period of time.
 
Apr 24, 2013
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With this and the Darwin shootings and so many more, its amazing that our society still hasnt worked out how to implement better safeguards against people who have demonstrated a propensity for violence over a period of time.


The state monopoly on violence denies us the right to carry arms for our defence.
 

Perth gal

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This whole situation was handled so badly by the police. They received phone call after phone call about this guy in the hours leading up to this crime. If I was a relative of one of the persons deceased I would be so angry. My child was actually visiting Melbourne that day from interstate . He was dropped off around the corner and within minutes he was yelled at by the police and told to leave the area immediately. Really frightened him.
 

SunGirl89

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is good police work sending dozens of text messages while you and the recipient are both driving?
 
Apr 24, 2013
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Arden Street Hill
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This whole situation was handled so badly by the police. They received phone call after phone call about this guy in the hours leading up to this crime. If I was a relative of one of the persons deceased I would be so angry. My child was actually visiting Melbourne that day from interstate . He was dropped off around the corner and within minutes he was yelled at by the police and told to leave the area immediately. Really frightened him.

It was handled badly by authorities in other departments before he became an issue for the cops.
 

Iworkthecircus

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Jan 6, 2018
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This is sad.

Bourke Street inquest hears James Gargasoulas got bail after police officer ticked wrong boxes on form
  • The officer said the errors on the remand application were an "oversight" but that he told the bail justice of his concerns orally
  • Messages released by the inquiry reveal a woman texted an officer early in the morning before the attack to warn him Gargasoulas's behaviour had escalated
  • But the detective was asleep and did not see the messages until he had woken up, at which point Gargasoulas was on the move
 
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