Teenager pleads guilty to seriously injuring boy in hit-and-run

A teenager has pleaded guilty to a series of charges including one of dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to a two-year-old at a housing estate in Cork last March.

Eddie Burke, defending, told the juvenile sitting of Cork District Court on Friday that his client was entering a signed plea of guilty to all 10 charges against him.

The 17-year-old, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was charged with dangerous driving causing serious bodily harm to the toddler.

The teenager was also charged with driving a dangerously defective vehicle and with failing to stop, failing to keep his vehicle at the scene of an incident and failing to report the incident to gardaí.

He was charged with a series of other motoring offences including driving without a licence, failing to produce a driving licence, driving without insurance and failing to produce a certificate of insurance.

He was also charged with possessing stolen property found in the boot of the car, a skill saw, a plane, an angle grinder and a 110-volt transformer.

Today, Insp Gary McPolin said that Det Sgt Mary Skehan had served a book of evidence on the accused and he applied to have him returned for trial to the next sitting of Cork Circuit Criminal Court commencing on October 29th.

Judge Mary Dorgan granted the application and remanded the teenager in continuing detention at Oberstown detention centre to appear again at Cork Circuit Criminal Court on that date.

At a previous sitting Det Sgt Skehan said the two-year-old was hospitalised at Temple Street Children’s Hospital for seven weeks for treatment for a head injury and other injuries and was still in rehabilitation.