Bourke St rampage accused Dimitrious ‘James’ Gargasoulas awaits jury outcome over trial fitness
BOURKE St rampage accused James Gargasoulas wants to be recognised as a king and believes only he can save the world from doom, a jury determining if he is fit to stand trial has heard. But prosecutors say he is aware of the chance to one day be released from psychiatric hospital if he is found unfit for trial.
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BOURKE St rampage accused James Gargasoulas wants to be recognised as a king and believes only he can save the world from doom.
The Supreme Court heard today Mr Gargasoulas admitted embarking on the deadly Bourke St rampage but qualified the massacre by saying he was acting on “divine instructions”.
Mr Gargasoulas is charged with six counts of murder and 28 counts of attempted murder over last year’s deadly incident.
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He told forensic psychiatrist Dr Lester Walton: “God made me do it.”
Six people were killed and dozens other injured when Mr Gargasoulas ploughed through pedestrians along Bourke St on January 20 last year.
But his legal team say he is unfit for trial because he is unable to enter a plea, understand the evidence or instruct counsel to act on his behalf.
A Supreme Court jury of 12, eight men and four women, will decide whether Mr Gargasoulas is fit to stand trial.
Dr Walton, a forensic psychiatrist with more than 30 years experience, said he had met with Mr Gargasoulas four times and was convinced he was not suitable for trial.
Dr Walton said Mr Gargasoulas told him: “my mission is to reinstate God’s law which will redeem myself”.
“I will become king before the end of the court case. If I don’t state God’s law we are all going to die,” he added.
Dr Walton said Mr Gargasoulas could not meaningfully enter a plea.
“He wants to be recognised as a king. This will happen apparently once a comet arrives,” Dr Walton said.
“That will occur towards end of trial, if he is able around that time to persuade people as to his world view then all will be well, if not the comet will destroy the earth,” he said.
Dr Walton said Mr Gargasoulas was suffering from “bizarre, religiose, delusions” but was able to describe in detail the events with led to his arrest.
Prosecutors have rejected claims Mr Gargasoulas is unfit for trial, saying he has his eye on the chance at freedom.
Director of Public Prosecutions Kerri Judd, QC, said the fact Mr Gargasoulas suffered a mental illness did not mean he was unfit for trial.
She said Mr Gargasoulas was aware of the chance to one day be released from Thomas Embling Psychiatric Hospital if he was found unfit for trial.
Defence counsel Dr Theo Alexander, for Mr Gargasoulas, said his client was unable to enter a plea, understand the evidence or instruct counsel to act on his behalf.
He also suffered from schizophrenia with “Messianic delusions”, he said.
Justice Mark Weinberg told the jurors Mr Gargasoulas would be presumed fit to stand trial unless the jury was convinced he was unable to:
UNDERSTAND the nature of the charge;
ENTER a plea;
EXERCISE their right to veto a jury member;
UNDERSTAND the nature of the trial, including the roles played by the judge, jury and counsel;
FOLLOW the course of the trial;
UNDERSTAND the substantial effect of evidence in the case or;
INSTRUCT counsel and make their version of events known to the court.
To find him unfit for trial the jury must be convinced on the balance of probabilities that Mr Gargasoulas is unable to meet one or more of those minimum standards.
Dr Walton told the court Mr Gargasoulas was now being treated by a potentially life-threatening antipsychotic medication.
It was a drug of last resort after five other treatments failed, he said.
The jury will not be asked to determine Mr Gargasoulas’s guilt or innocence, only whether he is mentally fit to stand trial.
Justice Weinberg told the jury this was not the first time the question of Gargasoulas’s fitness had been put to a jury.
But he said that investigation, in June, was unable to be completed, noting that should have no bearing on the task before the current jury.
The hearing continues.