A CANADIAN man who rammed his rental van into a crowd of pedestrians in downtown Toronto is appealing against his conviction for 26 murders and attempted murders, court documents showed yesterday.

Alek Minassian, who was 25 at the time of the 2018 attack, was found guilty and last month sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 25 years.

In a notice of appeal, his lawyer alleges the trial judge misunderstood expert psychiatric evidence and should have found Minassian “not criminally responsible” due to a mental disorder.

He asked for the conviction to be quashed or a new trial ordered.

In her ruling Ontario Superior Court judge Anne Molloy had rejected defence arguments that Minassian was incapable of discerning right from wrong because of his autism spectrum disorder (ASD), and called his crime “horrific.”

She said he has shown no remorse and no empathy for his victims, and said that he knew his actions were “morally wrong” but “chose to commit the crimes anyway.”

On April 23, 2018, Minassian drove a white rental van at full speed down streets and sidewalks in the Canadian metropolis, aiming at passers-by for a little more than a mile.

He stopped his rampage only after his windshield was obscured by a splashed coffee drink, he told police.

Ten people were killed and 16 injured in the attack – but the toll rose to 11 at the end of October last year when an injured woman who had spent more than three years in hospital also died of her injuries.

It was the deadliest attack in Toronto’s history. 

Minassian admitted to planning and carrying out the attack, leaving his state of mind at the time as the only issue to be considered during his trial.

Psychiatrists and his father testified that he had been diagnosed as a child with a pervasive developmental disorder – now known as ASD.

The defence argued that his ASD left him incapable of making a rational choice when he decided to target bystanders, but Molloy was unswayed. – AFP, July 16, 2022.