'He was smiling': Arresting London officer testifies in Windsor courtroom during terror trial

WARNING: The details in this article may be disturbing to some readers.

The trial of Nathaniel Veltman continues in Windsor for the June 2021 deaths of four members of a muslim family and injury to a fifth family member.

Grandmother Talat, her son Salman, his wife Madiha and their daughter Yumnah were all killed. Their son, a nine year old at the time, survived serious injuries.

They were struck around 8:40 p.m. on June 6 by a pickup truck the defence has already admitted was driven by Veltman.

“The updates were constant,” Const. Sarah Cochrane testified Tuesday.

She told the jury she was responding to the scene of the collision at Hyde Park Road and South Carriage road when “I made my own decision to attend” to a “different location.”

“I was advised the suspect was there (the parking lot of a local mall),” Cochrane told the jury.

Cochrane says she first saw Veltman standing near a taxi cab, and then when she entered the lot with her cruiser, he got down on his knees.

“This position is a position of disadvantage (for officers),” so she told the jury she asked him to get on his stomach and put his arms out at the sides.

Cochrane says she put his right arm behind his back and placed her knee on the “belt area” of his back to ensure he couldn’t hurt her and he couldn’t get away easily.

“I advised him he was under arrest for dangerous driving,” Cochrane testified.

The officer also conducted a “quick” pat down search of Veltman while he lay on the ground looking for “evidence, means of escape and weapons”.

Cochrane showed the jury the bulletproof vest and military style helmet Veltman was wearing upon his arrest.

She also showed the jury the empty knife sheath she noticed on his waistband.

Assistant Crown attorney Jennifer Moser lead the questions and on two occasions asked Cochrane if Veltman made any statements to her.

Although the officer confirmed statements were made by Veltman, Moser did not ask for the officer to elaborate on what he said.

“He seemed happy, smiling, looking around,” she told the jury. “He didn’t seem upset.”

Within four minutes of his initial arrest, Cochrane told Veltman he was then under arrest for attempted murder. The officer read Veltman his rights to counsel and right to remain silent.

“And then he (Veltman) with his hands behind his back (in the rear of the cruiser), he made the “okay” symbol with his hand out the window,” Cochrane testified.

After a brief conversation with her superior officer, Cochrane said she then arrested Veltman for first-degree murder and gave him his ‘primary caution’ to talk to a lawyer and to remain silent for a second time.

During the drive to headquarters, Cochrane noticed Veltman was “sitting straight up” and “looking around” at the other vehicles on the street.

So much so, she testified she “staggered” her cruiser so Veltman couldn’t make eye contact with the other drivers on the streets that night.

Defence lawyer Christopher Hicks will cross-examine Cochrane Wednesday morning.