A driver who hit a 13-year-old cyclist in Melbourne did not realise the girl was injured when she drove off with some of the victim's hair stuck in her shattered windscreen, a court has been told.
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Thi Nguyen, 41, pleaded guilty to failing to stop and failing to render assistance over the November 2017 crash at Coburg in Melbourne's north. It left the girl with life-threatening injuries.
Defence lawyer Alex Lewenberg on Tuesday told Melbourne Magistrates Court his client should have realised but did not know the girl was injured before stopping in a nearby side street.
He said Nguyen, who appeared in court with an interpreter, was also into shock and did know how to help because she could not speak English.
"She is a person who ... can't render assistance, can't speak, can't explain and there are other people rendering assistance," Mr Lewenberg said.
"She panicked."
According to court documents, Nguyen told police she returned to the crash scene after getting out of her car, and saw other children standing next to a bike.
She then went back to her BMW and called a friend, who gave her a number for a solicitor, before driving home.
Prosecutor Danielle Guesdon said it should have been obvious to Nguyen the teenager was injured.
"Other witnesses see the victim flipping up in their air," Ms Guesdon said.
"It would have been a big bang hitting the windscreen."
She also tendered a photograph showing the 13-year-old's hair was found in Nguyen's shattered windscreen.
Ms Guesdon disputed the claim the driver returned to the scene of the accident because CCTV showed the BMW driving away a minute after it pulled over.
"The prosecution doesn't accept that she went back to have a look because she simply didn't have time."
The 13-year-old victim, who cannot be named, had been riding with friends and without a helmet.
Witnesses had seen the girl swerving in and out of traffic.
One onlooker said the other children screamed "come back, come back" after the crash.
Magistrate Roslyn Porter is set to decide next Tuesday on a defence application that Nguyen be sentenced by the Magistrates Court.
The prosecutor argued the seriousness of the crime meant sentencing should be handled at the County Court level.
Nguyen's lawyer asked she be put under a community correction order.
Additional charges against Nguyen, including dangerous driving causing serious injury, have been withdrawn.
Australian Associated Press
