A 76-year-old man suffering from dementia struck a crowd in Copenhagen.

A 76-year-old man accused of hitting a crowd of people at Sortedam Dossering in Copenhagen was suffering from dementia when the accident occurred on April 30 last year.

This is what a senior physician, who later diagnosed the 76-year-old, told Copenhagen City Court on Tuesday.

The diagnosis can, among other things, lead to impaired ability to make informed decisions and uncertain driving habits.

The man, who was then 75, had just started driving when he struck a man on a bicycle.

He continued onto the sidewalk at a speed of at least 41 kilometers per hour, where a group of people had gathered in front of Lagkagehuset and Original Coffee.

In total, 17 people were injured according to the prosecution, three of whom were seriously hurt.

The 76-year-old man is charged with negligent bodily harm under particularly aggravating circumstances.

The senior physician, who testified on Tuesday, examined the accused for the first time in September 2025—six months after the accident.

At that time, she suspected that the 76-year-old man suffered from "a form of progressive brain disease."

The accused was diagnosed with so-called frontal lobe dementia at the beginning of February—just days before the trial began.

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**Diagnosis before driving**

The diagnosis was made based on the accused’s medical history, statements from relatives, and scans, explains the senior physician from the witness stand.

In her assessment, the 76-year-old was also affected by the diagnosis when he got behind the wheel of his red car and hit the crowd.

"I cannot say precisely to what extent. But I can confirm that the changes we see on the scans are not something that happens from one month to the next. It develops over years," she says.

And this is what defense attorney Anders Boelskifte considers "absolutely central" to the case.

He explained at the first court hearing that the diagnosis could mean the accused could not have acted with better knowledge. He therefore believes it may have significance for the assessment of negligence.

The prosecution’s view is that the accused drove in a particularly reckless manner because, due to illness and weakness, he could not drive safely. This is also referred to as "mad driving."

Prosecutor Sara Groth has emphasized, among other things, that the accused has difficulty walking and suffers from severe sleep apnea, which was untreated at the time of the accident.

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