James Gargasoulas: Australian man found guilty of Melbourne attack that killed six people and wounded 27

A man has been found guilty of murder after he killed six people by driving his car through a pedestrian-only street in Melbourne.

James Gargasoulas was pleaded not guilty to all 33 charges against him after he killed six people and injured 27 others.

The 28-year-old did however admit to driving through the city's busy Bourke Street mall and along pavements in January 2017, causing death and injury.

He told the court he believed he had received God's permission, through a premonition, to hit people with the stolen car he was driving but not to kill anyone.

Jurors heard he had a mental illness but this was not used as a defence as Gargasoulas was keen to stand trial.

He told experts that if he was convicted he would spend less than two years behind bars because a comet would hit earth in mid-2020.

Gargasoulas also claimed that he had lived seven times before and the comet had hit the earth during one of his previous life.

Experts disagreed about whether he was fit to stand trial.

At the trial Gargasoulas said: "I apologise from my heart but that's not going to fix anything... neither will a lengthy sentence fix what I done."

Justice Mark Weinberg said they must accept Gargasoulas' admissions as established facts, and that because his psychosis and delusions at the time of the rampage were drug-induced, he could not argue he was not guilty by way of mental impairment.

The victims ranged in age from three months to 33-years-old, and a lawyer representing the families of five murder victims told reporters they were grateful for the verdict.

"This was an intentional, callous act by Mr Gargasoulas that has stolen six innocent victims from the people that love them," the lawyer, Genna Angelowitsch, said outside the court.

Gargasoulas will be sentenced in January.

Agencies contributed to this report