The lawyer of the accused who killed four members of a Muslim family by running them over with his truck in London, Ontario four years ago, announced that his client will appeal the verdict against him.

The Ontario Superior Court in Windsor had convicted Nathaniel Feiltman, 23 years old, in last November of four counts of first-degree murder and one count of attempted murder for killing four people of Pakistani descent and injuring a fifth, a child, in the truck attack he carried out while behind the wheel of a light truck on June 6, 2021.

“The notice of appeal was filed by the detainee on his behalf,” said Christopher Hicks, Feiltman’s lawyer, to “CBC” (Canadian Broadcasting Corporation English service), adding that he expects to file the appeal later.

Hicks believes his client has “very arguable and debatable grounds” to appeal the verdict, including testimony Feiltman gave to investigators that should not have been accepted during the trial, according to him.

Hicks added that the prosecutors addressed the jury in a “unfair and biased” manner.

“It takes about one to two years to hear the appeal in the Court of Appeal, so it will take all this time,” Hicks said, “and if we succeed, there are two possible outcomes to the appeal, but the most likely outcome here, the only possible one, is a new trial.”

Five people from the Afzal family were taking an evening walk in a London suburb when Feiltman struck them with his truck. Yumna Afzal (15 years old), her mother Madihah Salman (44 years old), her father Salman Afzal (46 years old), and Talat Afzal (74 years old), who is Salman’s mother, were killed, and the child Faiz Afzal, who was then nine years old, was injured.

Feiltman was sentenced to life imprisonment and will not be eligible for parole until he has served 25 years behind bars.

Judge Renee Pomerance, who issued the verdict, said that Feiltman’s actions against the Afzal family were motivated by hatred and Islamophobia and are thus considered an act of terrorism under Canadian laws.