Driver not guilty of triple attempted murder crash

A man accused of trying to kill three children who were in his car by deliberately driving into oncoming traffic has been cleared of their attempted murder.

Tancredo Bankhardt, 41, had been at the wheel of a Vauxhall Astra which was involved in a multi-vehicle crash on the A146 near Loddon, Norfolk, in September 2025.

During his trial at Norwich Crown Court, the jury heard he had made sure the children had not been wearing seatbelts, which he denied.

Bankhardt, from Great Yarmouth, who had been driving at 74mph (119km/h) in a 60mph (97km/h) zone, told the court he had not wanted to hurt himself or anyone else.

Two of the children in Bankhardt's car and a man driving another vehicle were badly hurt.

After a 12-day trial, Bankhardt was cleared of three counts of attempted murder, but found guilty of three counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and one count of dangerous driving.

Bankhardt fell to his knees, seemingly in relief, as the jury of 10 men and two women delivered its verdicts of not guilty on the attempted murder charges.

The trial had heard how, on the night of the crash, Bankhardt repeatedly drove up and down the A146, reaching a roundabout before coming back the other way and driving into oncoming traffic.

The jury was told how, earlier that day, he had become embroiled in an argument with a witness, who cannot be named for legal reasons.

While he was driving, the court heard, he had made frequent phone calls and sent messages.

The police were alerted after people who knew Bankhardt became increasingly concerned about the conversations they had had with him and a post he had made on Instagram.

In a voice note he had sent to a witness, he had said he "hoped God does not treat me badly" and "see you in the next life".

Bankhardt told a police officer he would be "coming home", but shortly after 20:30 BST he collided with oncoming traffic.

The court heard Bankhardt turned his headlights on to full beam and accelerated to 74mph (119km/h) before the crash.

Bankhardt had maintained his innocence throughout the trial, stating he had perhaps become "distracted" moments before the crash while on a video call.

He also denied making threats to kill himself and intentionally ensuring his passengers were not wearing seatbelts.

When asked by his barrister Simon Spence KC if he had intended to kill himself or his passengers, he had responded: "No, never, of course not."

Det Con Sean Woolward, of Norfolk Police, the investigating officer, said: "Multiple lives were put at risk — not only those of the defendant and his three young passengers but also the two other drivers caught up in this incident.

"It was sheer chance that no-one was killed."

Bankhardt's sister, Eliana Aureliano, 47, said she was "very pleased" he had been cleared of attempted murder.

She said: "He is not an evil man, everybody at the trial could see he is a human being of good character.

"[He] now needs to start his life over again from scratch... he will have to live with what happened for the rest of his life."

Bankhardt is expected to be sentenced on Thursday for the offences of causing serious injury by dangerous driving and dangerous driving.

Follow Norfolk news on BBC Sounds, Facebook, Instagram and X.