A hit-and-run driver has had a charge unconditionally dismissed, despite a magistrate finding she left a man in a secluded area on "a misty, dark night" in the knowledge she had injured him.
The 19-year-old Canberra woman, whose identity is the subject of a non-publication order, faced a hearing in the ACT Magistrates Court last month after pleading not guilty to two charges.
Magistrate James Stewart ultimately acquitted her of negligent driving causing grievous bodily harm, but he found her guilty of failing to stop and give assistance after a crash.
Both charges related to an incident that occurred in June 2021, when the teenager drove up Mount Ainslie and honked her horn at a vehicle that was blocking access to the car park.
The victim, who had been drinking and arguing with his girlfriend in the other vehicle, got out and started bashing on a window of the offender's car.
The offender drove off, colliding with the victim as she left.
She later sent text messages, in which she wrote "I drove straight and just left" and "trust me, it was his feet".
When Mr Stewart returned his verdicts, he said he was satisfied the woman had, at "a bare minimum", run over the victim's feet and driven away knowing that was the case.
He described being "deeply suspicious" about whether the teenager's car had also hit other parts of the victim's body, leaving the man with critical injuries that resulted in him being taken to Canberra Hospital.
But he was not satisfied of this beyond reasonable doubt, leading to the negligent driving acquittal.
When the case returned to court on Thursday, defence barrister Kieran Ginges applied for the failing to stop and render assistance charge to be dismissed on mental health grounds.
He relied on a report of psychologist Vanessa Quigley, who described various diagnoses that included post-traumatic stress disorder, borderline personality disorder and attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.
Prosecutor Morgan Howe opposed the application, conceding the woman was psychologically challenged but arguing her ailments were not "towards the upper end of the scale of mental impairments".
Mr Howe told the court while it was difficult to ascertain exactly what injuries the teenager's car had caused the victim, the offence had occurred late at night in "a secluded location".
Mr Stewart agreed, remarking that the 19-year-old would not have known "whether there was one person or 100 up there" on Mount Ainslie when she left the victim behind on "a misty, dark night".
But the magistrate said he only considered the teenager to be an ongoing danger to herself in light of her many mental health issues, noting she had been resistant to receiving treatment.
"I do not think [she] is an ongoing risk to the community or to pedestrians, in particular, if anyone's interested in that," Mr Stewart said.
While he considered the case "a line ball matter" in terms of a mental health dismissal, he ultimately found it was appropriate to discharge the woman unconditionally because there was no utility in referring the case to the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal for treatment orders.
Mr Stewart urged the 19-year-old to seek treatment, however, telling her she had "a tough road ahead".
"Take care of yourself," the magistrate told the offender.
