'I admit that it was terrorism': Crown lays out case against man accused in London vehicle attack

Opening statements are underway in the trial of 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, who has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder after a London, Ont. Muslim family was struck by a pick-up truck in June 2021.

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Opening statements are underway in the trial of 22-year-old Nathaniel Veltman, who has been charged with four counts of first degree murder and one count of attempted murder after a London, Ont. Muslim family was struck by a pick-up truck in June 2021.

In her statement Monday, federal prosecutor Sarah Shaikh presented the jury with the evidence they intend to call.

“He (Veltman) drove his truck directly at them (the Afzaal family),” Shaikh told the jury.

According to Shaikh, Veltman drove his truck “pedal to the metal” that day, saw the family, made a u-turn on Hyde Park Road, accelerated towards them and drove his truck up onto the curb.

Shaikh told the jury some of the family members were thrown into the air as a result of the force of the accident.

The Crown intends to call evidence that shows Veltman left the scene and drove to a nearby mall where he parked beside a London taxi cab driver, and told him to call police.