The 23-year-old man convicted of murder in the 2021 attack on a Muslim family in London, Ont. — in what the judge called a "textbook" case of terrorism — is seeking to appeal his convictions, his lawyer says.Justice Renee Pomerance and three young relatives of the Afzaal family are seen in this court sketch giving victim impact statements during a sentencing hearing in January for Nathaniel Veltman.
Yumnah Afzaal, 15, her parents — Madiha Salman, 44, an engineer, and Salman Afzaal, 46, a physiotherapist — were killed, as was family matriarch Talat Afzaal, 74, a teacher and artist. "It was ongoing until objection was made by the trial judge, so Ketcheson and I are very interested in that as well," he said, referring to the convicted man's other lawyer.
The Crown had argued Veltman was motivated by political, ideological or religious ideas when he drove his truck into the family and that he had targeted the Afzaals because of their Muslim faith.