Torun knife attack suspect heads to trial

The trial of 22-year man who wounded eight people when he attacked random passers-by with a 32-centimeter knife in Torun, last year, began in the city's district court on Friday.

The suspect, Luka L., who was born in Rome and possesses Polish and Italian citizenship, faces two charges of attempted murder.

Radoslaw Pratnicki, the suspect's attorney, said before entering the courtroom that his client "could not remember what he did."

"He was unable to comprehend what he was doing or the consequences of his actions," added the lawyer.

According to Andrzej Kukawski, a spokesperson for the District Prosecutor's Office in Torun, Luka L. said that after taking unknown psychoactive substances he began to "feel strange, experience hallucinations and anxiety, and have visions of strange figures and faces."

In the opinion of experts, the suspect was deemed fit to stand trial. Blood tests did not reveal any drugs in his system.

Luka L. faces sentences of ranging from eight years in jail to life imprisonment.