Saeed Noori sentenced to life in jail after Flinders St attack
A man who mowed down Melbourne pedestrians while screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ has been jailed for life over the deadly Flinders St rampage.
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A man who mowed down Melbourne pedestrians while screaming ‘Allahu Akbar’ has been jailed for life over the deadly Flinders St rampage.
But the relief on the faces of victim’s and their family and friends quickly turned to disgust when Supreme Court judge Elizabeth Hollingworth declared Saeed Noori could be eligible for parole after 30 years.
“Oh God,” one gasped from the back of the courtroom.
The mother of Flinders St rampager Saeed Noori has fainted in court as he was jailed for life, with no chance of parole for 30 years @theheraldsun pic.twitter.com/9QDRnzqUMe
— Rebekah Cavanagh (@rebekahcavanagh) March 27, 2019
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Noori, 33, had pleaded guilty to one count of murder, 11 of recklessly causing serious injury and five of reckless conduct endangering life over what Justice Hollingworth described as a “truly appalling” crime on December 21, 2017.
Antonios “Anton” Crocaris, 83, died after being caught in Noori’s path.
Sixteen others were injured, including a four-year-old boy and teenager, 16.
Mr Crocaris’s three heartbroken children, Bill, Tony and Freda, had hoped their beloved father’s killer would never be freed.
Outside court last month, Bill Crocaris said Noori did not deserve freedom after taking the life of his “precious and irreplaceable” father.
We hope, he said, Noori “will never be allowed the opportunity to walk amongst us ever again”.
The Crocaris family, in shock at today’s sentence, declined to comment.
As the father-of-three was marched away by custody officers to start his sentence, he waved to two of his brothers in the court.
Moments later, the news her son would remain locked up for three decades was too much for his mum, who fainted inside the court.
Struggling to breathe, many people rushed to her side to help, including victim’s of her son’s attack.
An ambulance was called and she was treated by paramedics at the scene.
It was her car that Noori used to accelerate through the crowd of pedestrians at the busy Flinders St and Elizabeth St junction.
He wanted a larger SUV, but had failed in his bid to hire one at two rental car companies earlier in the day.
Noori had told his mum he needed to borrow her car to go to the doctors.
But instead he drove straight into the CBD, where CCTV footage captured him stop his vehicle at the red light along Flinders St and wait as the pedestrians started crossing, before accelerating at up to 52kmh into the crowd.
Justice Hollingworth said Noori was motivated by beliefs that he was being spied on by ASIO, telling police the Australian Government was racist, and oppressing Muslims like himself.
She said images found on his computer of international vehicle-ramming terror attacks “demonstrated that you had an interest in terrorist attacks”.