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Teenager admits hit-and-run guilt

An 18-year-old man has admitted he was the driver in the hit-and-run accident that left a 63-year-old man fighting for his life in hospital, suffering from “horrendous” head and internal injuries.

In the Kalgoorlie Magistrate’s Court yesterday for his first appearance, Darren Patrick Polak, 18, demanded he be allowed to enter guilty pleas to five offences including dangerous driving causing grievous bodily harm, failing to stop after the accident and wilfully destroying evidence.

However, Polak could face upgraded charges depending on whether the victim, who was yesterday in a critical condition in Royal Perth Hospital, survives the accident.

Despite never having held a driver’s licence, Polak was driving a Holden Commodore wagon at about 7.25pm on Friday night when he hit the victim, who was walking across the Goldfields Highway, at the intersection of Williamstown Road, with his wife.

Polak drove away from the scene of the accident before stopping in Golden Grove and setting the car alight, in a bid to hide the evidence.