Learner driver to plead guilty to hit-run crash that injured toddler
A learner driver is set to plead guilty over a hit-run crash that left a two-year-old boy with serious injuries.
Zachery Davin Larkins, 21, plans to plead guilty to failing to stop after an accident, failing to render assistance and failing to report an accident after he hit toddler Damon Michell in Laverton on September 9 last year.
Larkins is also set to admit failing to have an experienced driver alongside him and failing to display his L plates, Melbourne Magistrates Court heard on Tuesday. Prosecutors have struck out two charges.
Magistrate Susan Wakeling was told the case had resolved but Larkins had recently changed his lawyer and needed more time to get information on his Indigenous ancestry so he could have his plea hearing in the Koori Court, which specifically deals with Indigenous offenders.
Damon's family has previously said the toddler ran from the family home about 9pm and onto Railway Avenue, where he was hit by Larkins.
The driver did not stop after the crash and police later found his Holden Commodore abandoned at an Altona Meadows shopping centre.
Damon was at one stage in an induced coma at the Royal Children's Hospital but has since been discharged.
Larkins, of Laverton, had his bail extended to return to court on February 5.