A violent criminal who tried to kill two children and two adults in separate, unprovoked attacks earlier this year has been convicted.
Carlos Racitalal was said to have carried out the unprovoked attacks in Leicester during a "calculated and deliberate" manner with intent to kill, Leicestershire Live reports.
The jury of eight women and four men found him guilty on all counts unanimously, on the ninth day of the trial at the city's crown court.
He was also convicted of three offences of possessing knives in public, relating to the three brutal stabbings in the Belgrave area of the city.
Wearing a grey tracksuit, 33-year-old Racitalal remained seated in the dock and did not display any emotion as the guilty verdicts were returned and translated to him by an interpreter.
He had denied all of the offences, which were committed on different days in January 2020, the court heard.
The attacker did not give evidence in his defence in court. However, in police interviews he had protested his innocence.
Relatives of his victims were seated in the public gallery and kept silent as the verdicts were read out.
Mr Justice Linden will sentence him tomorrow after considering pre-sentence mitigation and victim impact statements.
The trial heard how a five-year-old girl was hit from behind in an Asda supermarket car park as she held her granddad's hand on January 2, at around 11.30am.
Her attacker was driving too fast in a Vauxhall Corsa, at about 20 miles per hour, in the wrong lane of the car park.
The girl was wrenched from her granddad's hand suddenly, launching mid-air and landing face down.
Her shocked granddad feared the worst, and thought she was dead. Fortunately, she cried and was taken to hospital with facial injuries.
And a woman, in her 30s, was slashed on the head as she walked home with her young children, aged three and six, on January 14.
She said she felt a blow to the back of her head and noticed someone holding a yellow-handled knife, which had been used to stab her.
She was treated in hospital for injuries that "mercifully... weren't life-threatening", prosecutor Christopher Donnellan told the court.
His third victim, a man aged 77, was repeatedly stabbed in the street and lost a significant amount of blood in the attack. He needed multiple stitches for his wounds.
Two days later, on January 18, a mother was parking her car while her 10-year-old son stood on the pavement, at around 5pm in Belper Street.
The defendant approached, placing a hand on the boy's shoulder as he drew the knife across his neck, causing a 10cm deep gash which exposed muscle below his skin.
He underwent surgery in hospital.
The prosecution said on each occasion, he launched "unprovoked attacks to either a child or an adult - each was defenceless."
