Indian man appears in court charged with mowing down pedestrians in Derby

TOI Correspondent from London: An Indian man, believed to be from Kerala, has been charged with driving a car into pedestrians in Derby on Saturday night, leaving seven people seriously injured.

Sandhu Ponnachan (36), who moved to Derby in April 2025 and is an Indian citizen, appeared at Southern Derbyshire magistrates’ court on Wednesday where he was charged with six counts of grievous bodily harm (GBH) with intent, one count of attempted GBH with intent, one count of dangerous driving and one count of possession of a bladed article. He spoke only to confirm his name and address and did not enter a plea. He was remanded in custody to appear at Derby crown court on April 29. There was no application for bail.

Four men and three women, aged 36 to 52, had to be hospitalised after a black car mounted the pavement and ploughed into pedestrians at 9.30pm local time on March 28. Ponnachan was arrested on suspicion of attempted murder shortly afterwards in a visibly damaged car. Four people have since been discharged from hospital.

His LinkedIn profile shows he was looking for work as a logistics manager, having worked in this role for Caterpillar Inc until March 2026. He was qualified to operate a forklift and work as a security guard. He is also listed as a director of Greeshmam Ltd.

On Facebook Ponnachan has put up posts praising India’s rise as a great power and a video asking “Why did Kerala go bankrupt?” as well as posts in Malayalam. There are religious posts, including a photo showing Verse 10 of Śrī Rūpa Gosvāmī’s Upadeśāmṛta (Nectar of Instruction); a video of a painting of Lord Hanuman and of the Bhagavad Gita, and a repost of a post by Congress politician Shashi Tharoor showing the Ram Lalla idol at Ram Mandir. One repost blames the Congress-led UPA regime for the “mysterious deaths of India’s nuclear scientists”.

The revelation of his nationality has triggered a barrage of racist abuse at Indians on social media, leading to the Friends of India Society International UK issuing a statement urging people not to let the actions of one person stigmatise an entire community. Users wrote on X: “Mass Immigration has been a disaster for this country. We need deportations.” Another wrote: “Annexing India and restoring the Raj will protect the world against India.” Another wrote: “You shouldn’t be surprised. Look what Indians are doing to Canada. They are a crime syndicate.”