Gargasoulas arrives at the Victorian Supreme Court on Friday for sentencing. Photo: AAP
Families of victims have slammed the 46-year jail term handed to Melbourne’s Bourke Street killer James Gargasoulas, who committed one of Australia’s “worst examples of mass murder”.
Garasoulas, 29, will be eligible for parole in 2063, when he’s 73, but the penalty is “not harsh enough” according to some.
He was sentenced on Friday to six life sentences for murdering six people and injuring dozens in a “callous and cowardly” driving attack.
Victims’ relatives filled Victoria’s Supreme Court for Justice Mark Weinberg’s ruling and later said dangerous murderers like Gargasoulas “should never be allowed to roam freely”.
“The sentence is not harsh enough,” the families of five victims said in a joint statement.
“Our family hopes that no one will ever have to suffer a similar fate as those who lost their loved ones.”
In a collared shirt and flanked by four guards, Gargaoulas stood emotionless in the dock as he was sentenced.
“This was one of the worst examples of mass murder in Australian history,” Justice Weinberg said.
“Your actions were both callous and cowardly. You have shown no genuine remorse.”
In one of the city’s darkest days, Gargasoulas used a stolen car to mow down and kill six people in the busy Bourke St mall on January 20, 2017.
His victims included three-month-old baby Zachary Bryant, who was thrown 60 metres from his pram, and 10-year-old girl Thalia Hakin, who was holding her mother’s hand when she was struck.
“By your deliberate and wanton conduct, you murdered six young people, none of whom you knew, and none of whom had done any wrong,” the judge said.
Gargasoulas injured dozens of others, knocking them to the ground and into walls while driving in a drug-induced psychosis.
Justice Weinberg described in detail the events of the “terrifying rampage”, noting each victim killed as well as those left with broken bones, head injuries, internal bleeding and other lasting damage.
“You left a trail of destruction,” he said.
“Your crimes have had a shattering effect on countless lives.”
The car driven by James Gargasoulas in the attack that killed six people. Photo: AAP
Crime Stoppers Victoria ambassador George Halvagis believes Gargasoulas should die in jail.
“He should never, ever get out of there,” he told reporters after the sentencing.
Grieving relatives recently told the court of their pain, with the brother of Japanese victim Yosuke Kanno saying he will “continue suffering from this until I die”.
Robyn Davis, the mother of victim Jess Mudie, said her daughter died three weeks before her 23rd birthday.
In a letter read to the court, Gargasoulas insisted he was not evil and blamed “government oppression” for the murders.
He also maintained he was the Messiah and acted on the wishes of God on the day of the rampage, but said he was in a “bad headspace”.
Gargasoulas’ address to the court lasted 20 minutes. Photo: The Supreme Court of Victoria
Gargasoulas pleaded not guilty to killing Zachary, Thalia, Ms Mudie, Mr Kanno, 25, Matthew Si, 33, and Bhavita Patel, 33.
But in November a jury found him guilty of the murders and 27 counts of reckless conduct endangering life.
Gargasoulas, who suffers treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia, was found fit to stand trial.
He had been using “ice”, committing crimes in the weeks before the attack and was on bail, and “ironically” meant to face court on the day of the massacre, the judge noted.
Police tailed the stolen Holden Commodore for some of its journey into the CBD before the rampage.
-AAP