Judge Jonathan Taaffe<\/a> asked her: \u201cIs it the crown\u2019s case that he deliberately drove at them using the car as a weapon?\u201d<\/p>\nShe replied: \u201cIt is. He accepts he was the driver of the vehicle. He has no previous convictions.<\/p>\n
“In interview he said he was coming into the city to buy pizza.”<\/p>\n
Judge Taaffe remanded him into custody and sent the case to Derby Crown Court, where he will next appear on April 29.<\/p>\n
![\"Forensic](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/0_Man-arrested-for-attempted-murder-after-seven-injured-in-Derby-car-attack.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Forensic officers pictured in Derby city centre on Sunday, March 29.(Image: Emma Trimble \/ SWNS)<\/p>\n
The accused, of Chariot Close, has been charged with six counts of assault occasioning grievous bodily harm with intent, one count of attempted GBH with intent, one count of dangerous driving, and one count of possession of a bladed article.<\/p>\n
Seven people were injured \u2013 some seriously \u2013 after a Suzuki Swift was in collision with a number of pedestrians in Friar Gate at about 9.30pm on Saturday, March 28.<\/p>\n
Derbyshire police said all seven were taken to hospital with serious but not life-threatening injuries and that four people have since been discharged from hospital.<\/p>\n
Ponnachan, who lives in Derby but is originally from India, was arrested shortly after in Station Approach.<\/p>\n
In a statement released on charge, late on March 31, Chief Superintendent Emma Aldred said: \u201cThis incident has, naturally, sent shockwaves through the community of Derby and the county as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy thoughts, and those of the wider force, remain with each of the seven injured people, their families, and witnesses at the scene.<\/p>\n
\u201cI would like to reiterate my thanks to all the people that have assisted our investigation \u2013 the public, partner agencies, local businesses and also the media and wider community for their patience and understanding as we have worked to seek a charge.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/0_IMG_5968JPG.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
A police presence has remained on Friar Gate in the morning of Monday, March 30.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile today\u2019s charge is positive news, and one that I hope brings a degree of reassurance, the investigation into the incident continues and I would once again appeal for anyone who has any information to come forward.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are still very keen to hear from anyone who may have CCTV, dashcam, or mobile phone footage that could assist our enquiries and would urge you to contact us via the details below, if you have not already done so.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs a final word, now that charges have been made I\u2019d ask for the cooperation of the public to allow the judicial process to continue without any speculation online or elsewhere that could impede the pursuit of justice for all those affected.\u201d<\/p>\n
Janine McKinney of the Crown Prosecution Service, said: \u201cThe Crown Prosecution Service has decided to prosecute Sandhu Ponnachan with six counts of six counts of Section 18 GBH with intent, one count of attempted Section 18 GBH with intent, one count of dangerous driving, and one count of possession of a bladed article following a police investigation into the incident in Derby on Saturday evening.<\/p>\n
\u201cOur prosecutors have worked to establish that there is sufficient evidence to bring the case to court and that it is in the public interest to pursue criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have worked carefully with Derbyshire Police as they carried out their investigation.\u201d<\/p>\n
Anyone who is able to help with the investigation is asked to contact the force, quoting incident 1131 of March 28.<\/p>\n
You can also anonymously contact the independent charity CrimeStoppers on 0800 555 111 or by visiting the CrimeStoppers website.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Seven pedestrians were injured when a car drove into them Sandhu Ponnachan spoke only to confirm his name,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":3502,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[2094,61,1126,1222,393,5,6],"class_list":{"0":"post-3501","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-uk","8":"tag-alvaston","9":"tag-crime","10":"tag-derby-city-centre","11":"tag-derbyshire-police","12":"tag-facebook","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@UnitedKingdom\/116330488265633984","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3501"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3501\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3502"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3501"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3501"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3501"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/britain\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/1775062272_212_0_Derby-incident.jpg\")
<\/p>\n