Driver ‘had mental health problems’
Police find no evidence of links with terrorism
AUSTRALIA: A driver arrested after a car was driven into pedestrians in Melbourne was a 32-year-old Australian of Afghan descent with a history of drug use and mental health problems, police have said.
Victoria Police chief Shane Patton said a second man, aged 24, was found to have a bag containing knives.
A DRIVER arrested after a car was driven into pedestrians in Melbourne was a 32-year-old Australian of Afghan descent with a history of drug use and mental health problems, police have said.
Victoria Police chief Shane Patton said a second man, aged 24, who was arrested after he was seen filming the incident was found to have a bag containing knives.
Investigators have found no evidence to suggest a link with terrorism and Mr Patton said they had not established any relationship between the two men.
Some 19 people were injured, four critically, when a white car was driven “in a deliberate” act at crowds outside Flinders Street station at around 4.30pm yesterday.
The driver of the car was detained by an off-duty police officer, who was later taken to hospital with injuries not believed to be critical.
Mr Patton told a press conference the driver had resisted arrest and there had been “somewhat of a fight between them”.
He added: “We have reviewed the footage and are satisfied that he was driving the car without anyone else present.
“He has be taken to hospital as a result of the incident, as has the police officer.
“He is a person known to Victoria Police. He has historical assault matters an has a history of drug use as well as mental health issues.
“We understand that he was on a mental health plan and receiving treatment.”
He added: “We do not at this time have any intelligence to indicate that there is a connection to terrorism.”
The second man held in connection with the incident was seen filming it on a mobile phone “and also had a bag that had some knives in it”, Mr Patton said, but it appears he may not be connected.
He added: “We don’t yet have any relationship established between the 24-year-old man who was taking a video, who was arrested at the scene, and the driver. In fact there may be no relationship between them.
“But, obviously, at a significant scene like this he was taken into custody because of the circumstances so we can explore it. It may well be that person is exonerated from any involvement in this in the end, and that’s probable at this stage.”
He was not known to police, Mr Patton added.
Daniel Andrews, premier of Victoria state of which Melbourne is the capital, said four people were in a critical condition in hospital and 15 were in a stable condition.
A pre-school aged child was taken to the Royal Children’s Hospital for treatment for a non-lifethreatening injury.
Mr Andrews told the press conference the city would not be “defined by these sorts of incidents”.
“I am confident that we will go about our business and we will celebrate Christmas, we will be at the Boxing Day Test, Carols By Candlelight and we will spend what should be a joyous time with people that we love,” he said.
“But we will all spare a thought for those that have been touched and, indeed, ever changed by the evil and cowardly scenes in Flinders Street today.”
Witnesses described seeing people “flying everywhere” as the car was driven along the street which was busy with Christmas shoppers and commuters. Lachlan Read told the Herald
Sun the incident lasted about 15 seconds.
“It was bang, bang, bang. It was just one after the other.
“The last bang the car stopped,” the 20-year-old said. “There were bodies on the ground and people running up to them – it was mayhem.” THE FAMILY of a British woman jailed in Iran have said they are feeling “more positive” her ordeal may soon end after her case status was changed to eligible for early release.
The latest twist in the case of Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe, who holds dual UK-Iranian nationality, comes after Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson’s visit to the country earlier this month.
Mrs Zaghari-Ratcliffe’s sister, Rebecca Jones, said: “She’s spoken to her lawyer, she’s seen her lawyer yesterday, and her lawyer has now discovered that on a judiciary database, her case is marked eligible for early release that’s a change, we thought it was always a closed case.
“It doesn’t mean to say she is going to get early release, but it’s definitely a positive step that she has been marked eligible for early release.
“The lawyer is much more positive and Nazanin is much more positive.”
Richard Ratcliffe said he was “cautious” about the news but hoped his wife, who was arrested in 2016 during a holiday visit to show their daughter Gabriella to her parents, would be home soon.
He told Sky News: “It is definitely a positive step. I’m probably a bit cautious to see just how positive.
“There has not been any confirmation to her from the prosecutor so, what she got told, there is still some paperwork to finalise, so hopefully by Christmas, but Christmas is not very far away at all.
“But it’s definitely good news and fingers crossed now.”
He said since Mr Johnson’s visit there had been “incremental improvement” in her case, including allowing her more phone calls. “I think it feels like the tide has turned, certainly,” he added.
Mr Ratcliffe, asked whether his wife had been used as political leverage in a reported £400m debt settlement, said: “There’s definitely lots of things in the relationship that are tense.
“There are clearly pots of money sitting under sanctions, there are issues about bank accounts not being opened, there are issues about banking and investments.”
It was bang, bang, bang. It was just one after the other. Eyewitness Lachlan Read.