A driver accused of mowing down pedestrians in Melbourne's Bourke Street has claimed he isn't bothered if he's found fit to plead because a comet "burn us all" in two years anyway.
A Supreme Court jury is deciding if James "Dimitrious" Gargasoulas is fit to enter a plea for allegedly fatally striking six people with his car in January 2017 and injuring dozens more.
Forensic psychiatrist Andrew Carroll continued giving evidence on Wednesday.
A day earlier, Gargasoulas told him he's "really not bothered" if he's sent to jail for decades or for psychiatric treatment because it will actually only be for two years.
In evidence on Wednesday, Professor Carroll said Gargasoulas believed he had lived seven times and in the last life a "comet came and burned us all".
He believes the same will happen again in mid-2020, or alternatively people will march to demand his release.
"I don't think it matters where I go, I'm not really bothered," Prof Carroll said Gargasoulas told him.
Gargasoulas suffers treatment-resistant paranoid schizophrenia.
Prof Carroll believes Gargasoulas is unable to rationally enter a plea, but says the 27-year-old remains "very keen" to be found fit to stand trial because he wants his message about the comet to be believed.
"It's very important that someone takes me seriously, the comet and all that," he said Gargasoulas told him.
Psychologist Michael Daffern said he too believed Gargasoulas was concerned about how a finding of mental impairment could affect his reputation, but believes he is fit to plead.
He said Gargasoulas didn't deny committing the offences but told him earlier this month he didn't believe he was a bad person.
Gargasoulas told him the "unfortunate victims" died so he could be incarcerated and kept safe, and he understood if convicted he would be locked up for a long time.
Prof Daffern said Gargasoulas wanted to be found fit so he could plead not guilty by way of mental impairment, which if accepted as a verdict would allow him to go straight back to Thomas Embling psychiatric hospital.
If he was found unfit to plead he may have to go back to 23-hour-a-day seclusion for another 12 months, which he didn't want, he said.
Crown prosecutor Kerri Judd QC has argued Gargasoulas is capable of rational thought and is making a bid to be held at Thomas Embling rather than jail, to enable his eventual release into the community.
The hearing is set to continue on Thursday.
Australian Associated Press
