CPS announces 36-year-old man charged with grievous bodily harm for Derby incident
The Crown Prosecution Service has announced Sandhu Ponnachan has been charged with nine offences, including causing grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, following an incident on Friargate, Derby on Saturday 28 March when seven people were injured by a vehicle.
Janine McKinney of the Crown Prosecution Service said:
“The Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute Sandhu Ponnachan with six counts of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and one count each of dangerous driving, possession of a bladed article and attempt to cause GBH with intent following a police investigation into the incident in Derby on Saturday evening.
“Our prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.
“We have worked carefully with Derbyshire Police as they carried out their investigation.”
Mr Ponnachan will appear at Derby Magistrates’ Court on 1 April .
We remind all concerned that proceedings against the defendant are active and he has the right to a fair trial.
It is vital that there should be no reporting, commentary or sharing of information online which could in anyway prejudice these proceedings.
Notes to editors
- Sandhu Ponnachan [DOB 13.5.89] is from Alvaston, Derby.
- The function of the CPS is not to decide whether a person is guilty of a criminal offence, but to make fair, independent and objective assessments about whether it is appropriate to present charges for a criminal court to consider.
- The CPS assessment of any case is not in any sense a finding of, or implication of, any guilt or criminal conduct. It is not a finding of fact, which can only be made by a court, but rather an assessment of what it might be possible to prove to a court, in accordance with the Code for Crown Prosecutors.
- Janine McKinney is the Chief Crown Prosecutor for the East Midlands