Alleged Leanyer hit-and-run driver fronts court, freed on $10,000 bail
THE driver in the alleged hit-and-run crash in Leanyer which hospitalised a 5-year-old boy has been granted bail with a $10,000 cash surety after facing court
Police & Courts
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- Alleged hit-and-run driver hands himself into police after four-day search
- NT Police release fresh image of vehicle of interest in Paikea Hiko hit and run
UPDATE: The driver in the alleged hit-and-run crash in Leanyer which hospitalised a 5-year-old boy has been granted bail with a $10,000 cash surety after handing himself into police.
The court on Friday ordered Emmanouil Kampouris, 22, to attend Casuarina Police Station daily between 8am and 5pm.
Paikea Hiko, 5, suffered two broken legs when knocked from his scooter by a car allegedly driven by Kampouris.
The crown prosecutor opposed bail saying the accused had taken three days to hand himself into police, had no strong ties to Australia and the accused had purchased a ticket to fly to Greece on September 26.
However Kampouris’ lawyer told the court that the accused had purchased the ticket before the alleged hit run incident and was intending to fly to Kalymnos to visit his ailing father.
The court also heard that the accused is an Australian citizen who has resided in Darwin for three years and worked with his uncle as a tiler.
The defence lawyer argued that despite having the airline ticket the accused had voluntarily handed himself in.
The court heard that the accused had no prior history of offending and had voluntarily surrendered his passport.
The case was adjourned until October 16.
EARLIER: Northern Territory police would have had to sift through “hundreds” of cars similar to the make and model involved in a shocking hit-and-run of a boy in Leanyer if the alleged driver hadn’t turned himself in.
Police on Friday morning confirmed a 22-year-old Darwin man had turned himself in on Thursday night, four days after a crash on Vanderlin Dr that left 5-year-old Paikea Hiko with multiple broken bones and internal injuries.
Paikea had been crossing the road on his scooter with his older brother and another friend to the Leanyer skate park around 5.30pm on Monday when he was struck by a car at the lights.
The driver, who is understood to have been driving a silver sedan, kept driving towards Casuarina.
NT Police said CCTV and dashcam footage had revealed a car of interest – a 2002-2005 model Ford Falcon possibly an XR6 or XR8.
Detective Senior Sergeant Brendan Lindner on Friday said the car police had been looking for was “fairly common in Darwin” and the list that had been generated through investigations and tip offs from the public was “in the hundreds”.
The man turned himself in on Thursday night, was refused bail and will appear in the Darwin Local Court today.
Det Snr Sgt Lindner said Paikea was still in hospital in a stable condition.
“He will undergo surgeries for what are serious injuries for anyone, in particular a five-year-old child,” he said.
Det Snr Sgt Lindner thanked the community for their help and appealed to the public to take care on the roads and expect the unexpected.
“If you are involved in a crash like this, stop immediately and assist the person if you can, and if nothing else, contact emergency services,” he said.
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“We were lucky in the circumstances, there were other motorists in the immediate vicinity who did stop and we thank them.”
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