Flinders Street accused had photos of foreign car terror attacks, court told

Man accused of mowing down pedestrians in a fatal rampage in Melbourne had images of foreign mass car attacks on his computer, court hears.

Accused Flinders Street driver Saeed Noori. Picture: Seven News

A man accused of driving his car into pedestrians in Melbourne’s CBD last year had images of foreign mass car attacks on his computer and yelled “Allahu Akbar” when he was arrested, a court has heard.

Saeed Noori faced Melbourne’s Magistrates Court today for a committal hearing, where he is charged with one count of murder, 15 counts of attempted murder and a dangerous driving offence.

Mr Noori was today committed to stand trial. He has entered a plea of not guilty.

Mr Noori allegedly deliberately drove his car into pedestrians at the intersection of Flinders and Elizabeth St on December 21 last year. One man died as a result

Senior Crown prosecutor Mark Gibson told the court today that Noori had images on a personal computer of similar incidents.

“Police found still images on Mr Noori’s computer … of a car driving into pedestrians in Westminster Bridge in London … during a protest in Charlottesville, Virginia … and an incident in Spain,” Mr Gibson said.

“When arrested, he yelled Allahu Akbar two or three times.”

Police officer Francis Adams, who rushed to the car that hit pedestrians last year arrested Mr Noori during a day off, also addressed the court.

“I approached the vehicle … I tried to restrain his arms and put my head on the side of his head,” he said, “He eventually stopped moving … I believed he was faking losing consciousness.”

Attending paramedic Brett Overhead told the court that Mr Noori gave several contradictory statements on what had caused the crash.

“Some things didn’t make sense … at one point he said he didn’t know what happened. He contradicted himself quite a bit,” he said.

The court previously heard from the prosecution that Mr Noori had also claimed someone had jumped out at him in the street, which is why he lost control.

But once he had reached Royal Melbourne Hospital, Detective Senior Constable Simon Bray said Mr Noori claimed the crash was “deliberate”.

“He said in the hospital room: I should be locked up. It was deliberate. I heard voices,” Detective Senior Constable Bray told the court.

The court heard Mr Noori tried and failed to hire an SUV in Preston and had taken out $7000 from his bank account.

He eventually borrowed his mother’s white Suzuki SUV, the car involved in the crash.

The court has head on a previous mention that Mr Noori has been diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia.

But a psychological assessment is still needed before he can plea not guilty by reason of mental impairment.

Mr Norri’s case will now head to Victoria’s Supreme Court for a directions hearing on October 2.

Magistrate Cameron said she was satisfied there was evidence of sufficient weight to support a conviction in respect of the charges before the court.

Earlier an Islamic Studies expert, who cannot be legally identified, told the court there were signs Mr Noori could have been radicalised.

The expert was approached by Victoria Police because they have helped with cases involving the Islamic community before.

“There were signs and patterns in his initial statement and material he consulted online … that there could be a fair degree of radicalisation,” the expert said.

But they also said they could not determine Mr Noori’s motivation and that the defendant did not appear to be inspired by Islamic State.