A Farmborough Heights man charged over a fatal hit-and-run in Sydney has told police he pulled up beside the struck woman’s body and saw with certainty she was dead before he decided to drive away.
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A police investigation into the Thursday afternoon tragedy at Waterloo was leading police to 21-year-old Scott Hoskins’ door, when his tearful mother instead took the blame for the collision.
He only handed himself in as police were closing in on him and after his mother had attempted to take the rap for him.
Debbra Aldridge, 50, became hysterical when police arrived at her Dapto home, Friday morning.
“I need to speak to you. I was in Sydney yesterday and I hit a girl,” she told them, according to police documents considered by Wollongong Local Court this morning.
In a recorded interview she repeatedly said, “what have I done?” and “I’ve killed somebody”, becoming emotional and asking that the interview be stopped.
She allegedly admitted her lie when police, who had witness accounts and CCTV vision suggesting two males were inside the car, said they believed her son was the driver. “I was just trying to protect him. He’s a good kid,” she allegedly replied.
Hoskins handed himself in at Wollongong Police Station that morning.
He looked miserable as he appeared via AVL in court Saturday morning, as prosecutor Davis successfully argued against his release on bail.
“He put his own selfish needs above the victim, who was left to die on the road at Waterloo,” Sgt Davis said.
“He only handed himself in as police were closing in on him and after his mother had attempted to take the rap for him.”
The court heard Hoskins, a plumber, and his housemate Ashley Killorn, a tiler, were heading to a job site in the Bondi area the afternoon of the collision.
Police will allege suspended driver Hoskins was at the wheel of the white Kia Rio when it collided with 20-year-old Waterloo woman Yan Hao a short distance from her apartment about 2.15pm Thursday.
Ms Hao was crossing Lachlan Street when she stepped into the car’s path. She was thrown from the eastbound to westbound lane. She later died at St Vincent’s Hospital.
Police used CCTV footage to identify the car. They found it had been rented from a hire car company several days earlier by Hoskins’ girlfriend, then tracked it to Aldridge’s Dapto driveway.
In his interview with police, Hoskins allegedly said he pulled the car up alongside the motionless Ms Hao, looked out his window and immediately knew she was dead. He told police he drove off as he knew his license was suspended and he wanted to get home to family. He said Ms Hao had run out in front of him and he had been unable to stop.
Killorn, also 21, has since been charged with concealing an indictable offence.
He attended Wollongong Police Station 7.10pm Friday and allegedly gave police the excuse that he was upset and emotional, and also that his phone had become “disconnected”.
Police noted his phone was still switched on and charged, and all phones can contact 000, regardless of network restrictions.
Killorn was also refused bail. Both men are to return to Wollongong Local Court on Monday.
Aldridge, who has no prior criminal history, was released on bail.
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