Man who stabbed 10-year-old boy and deliberately drove his car at five-year-old girl sentenced to 21 years in prison

A man has been jailed for a minimum of 21 years and 259 days this morning (6 Nov), after being found guilty of attempting to murder two children and two adults in a series of unprovoked attacks in the Belgrave area of Leicester in January.

33-year-old Carlos Racitalal was found guilty of the offences following a nine-day trial at Leicester Crown Court.

Three of the offences involved victims being stabbed, while one of the incidents saw a five-year-old girl being hit with a car.

The victims all required hospital treatment before later being discharged.

Racitalal was also found guilty of three counts of possession of a bladed article.

During the trial, the jury heard how Racitalal he deliberately drove his car at five-year-old girl in the car park at Asda, in Exploration Drive, off Abbey Lane, Leicester on Thursday January 2nd.

On Tuesday, January 14th, he stabbed a mother in the head as she was walking along Doncaster Road with her six-year-old son, pushing her three-year-old child in a buggy.

Two days later, he attacked a man in his 70s in Dean Road, targeting the man's head with a series of blows.

On Saturday January 18th, a mother was parking her car while her 10-year-old son was on the pavement, at just after 5pm.

The boy, who had been in the street, saving a parking space for his mum, described being grabbed by a man who then attacked him before running off.

The boy suffered a slash wound to his neck and was taken to hospital where he underwent surgery.

An image of Racitalal was released to the public on 20th January as part of a further public appeal.

This led to him identifying himself at Mansfield House police station a few hours later where he was arrested.

Racitalal was carrying a rucksack at the time of his arrest which was the same as one seen in CCTV images from the incidents.

Following his arrest, Racitalal denied being responsible for any of the incidents, denied being in contact with any of the victims and denied being in possession of a knife.

A search was carried out in the defendant’s bedroom which led to a large kitchen knife, which was wrapped in a pillowcase, being found in the bed while a yellow handled Stanley-style knife was also found in a box on the bed.

The judge said evaluations of Racitalal's mental health had identified he was autistic and has 'moderate' depression but no definitive evidence of a psychiatric disorder which might account for his actions.

Passing sentence, the judge said: "You will be sentenced to life imprisonment with a minimum term of 21 years and 259 days.

"It is important you and everyone concerned concerned with this case understand what this means.

"The minimum terms is not a fixed term after which you will automatically be released. It is the term that must be served before the Parole Board can undertake their first review of the case.

They will review the risk that you present at that stage and consider whether you can properly be released from custody subject to licence and, if so, on what terms."