A Cringila woman granted strict conditional bail over her involvement in a “hit and run” case in July has returned to court on fresh driving offences.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Emma Stinson was charged with dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm and failing to stop and assist following the July 31 incident, which left her 17-year-old victim fighting for life in hospital.
Court documents detailing that event said Stinson had three other passengers in her Holden Commodore when she drove into a quiet cul-de-sac in Berkeley and pulled up behind another vehicle carrying the victim.
When the victim saw Stinson, she allegedly got out of the car and ran towards Stinson’s Commodore, throwing herself on the bonnet and trying to reach into the car through the window.
Stinson allegedly reversed the vehicle a short way up the street before driving it forward again. She allegedly mounted the kerb and took out a letterbox before returning to the roadway, at which time the victim fell from the bonnet onto the bitumen.
Police claim Stinson then drove off, leaving the victim lying in the gutter with serious head injuries.
Emergency services arrived a short time later and the woman was flown to St George Hospital in a critical condition.
Stinson was arrested later that day and charged. She was granted strict bail by police, which included a condition that she not occupy the driver’s seat of any vehicle.
However, officers discovered Stinson behind the wheel of an unregistered Commodore on Wednesday after following it from a house they had under surveillance.
Court documents said as soon as police drove up behind the vehicle it pulled into a side street and Stinson was seen to swap seats with her male passenger.
She initially denied being the driver, however admitted her guilt when she fronted Wollongong Local Court on Friday.
Magistrate Peter Thompson fined Stinson a total of $1950 on the fresh offences and agreed to release her on bail for the original charges.
However, as part of a beefed up set of bail conditions, Stinson will now be required to report to police daily, abide by a nighttime curfew and have an acceptable person lodge a $1,000 surety bond with the court before she can be released.
Stinson initially told the court through her lawyer that her parents would agree to have her live at their house and they could put up the surety.
However, the lawyer later confirmed he’d received incorrect instructions from Stinson and that her parents had not agreed to house her and would not post her bail money. Stinson will remain behind bars until the bail can be met.