Leicester serial attacker jailed for life for attempted murder

A Leicester man has been convicted of attempted murder and sentenced to life imprisonment for four serious attacks in the Belgrave area of the city.

Carlos Vinodchandra Racitalal (33) tried to kill four different people in seemingly unconnected attacks. His first attack was on 2 January this year. Racitalal drove his car at a six-year-old girl in a supermarket car park. Twelve days later, he attacked a mother walking with her two children, stabbing her in the back of the head with a Stanley knife. Two days after that on 16 January, he assaulted an elderly gentleman as he left his home, stabbing him repeatedly to his face and head. His final assault was a terrifying knife assault on a ten-year old boy standing on the pavement outside his home to help his mother park her car.

Racitalal was identified by eyewitnesses, in some cases, and from CCTV footage taken from near the scenes of his attacks. Experts confirmed his identity and the same distinctive clothing and rucksack worn in each attack. He denied any involvement in the attacks, forcing the CPS to prove that he was the person behind each assault in court and that each time he had intended to kill.

He was found guilty of attempted murder on Thursday 5 November by a jury and today (Friday 6 November) sentenced to life in prison with a minimum term of 22.5 years.

Andrew Baxter from the CPS said: “This was a series of senseless, unprovoked attacks targeting elderly people and young children. The level of violence used is deeply disturbing and is one of the most shocking cases I have overseen for some time. Each one of these victims has been through a terrifying ordeal and it is down to fortune and the intervention of others nearby that all of them survived. I would like to offer them and their families my best wishes for their continued recovery, having heard about the impact of these offences on each victim and their families, and the ongoing consequences.

“Having examined the evidence in this case in detail, it was clear that this individual poses a significant danger to the public. We have made that clear to the court as part of the sentencing and this has been reflected in the life sentence handed down today.”

Building the case:

Each count of attempted murder had to be proved separately. The prosecution had to have sufficient evidence not only that Racitalal was the person responsible for the attack and that each time, he intended to kill his victim. Racitalal did not give evidence at the trial. With no alternative account of events, the job or the prosecution was to leave the jury in no doubt as to the identity and intent of the attacker on each occasion.

In the attack on the six-year-old girl, Ractitalal was identified by eyewitnesses noting details of his car, including a member of supermarket staff who chased the car across the car park. Racitalal claimed he had not done it, and was unaware of having collided with the young victim. Forensic examination of the car, CCTV of him driving at speed, deliberately avoiding speed bumps and driving straight at the victim was among the evidence used to demonstrate attempted murder.

His identity and intent in the attack on the mother with her children were proved by CCTV near the scene showing him in his distinctive clothing and rucksack. A knife matching the one used on the victim, found during a search of his home was shown to the jury. His claim that he had been in Loughborough when the attack happened was proved false by CCTV from a bus journey that showed the time he arrived in Belgrave.

Racitalal was identified from CCTV footage from near the attack on the elderly gentleman. Again the distinctive clothing and rucksack helped identify him.

CCTV of Racitalal running away from the scene was again instrumental in identifying him as the assailant in the final attack, as well as the eyewitness account given by the young victim. The victim’s DNA was also found on a knife found in a search of Racitalal’s home.

As well as the identification from each separate incident, expert analysis of the CCTV footage showed that this was the same person identified in footage of the other attacks.