A Hastings man has admitted he was the driver of a hit and run which left a 5-year-old boy in hospital with severe injuries.
Joshua Manukapei Watson, 27, pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to stop or ascertain injury at the Hastings District Court this morning.
Watson was driving in Flaxmere on August 13 when he struck Kayzah-Shae Wairama, who was playing on his bike.
He was later transferred to Starship Hospital in Auckland in a critical condition.
Watson handed himself into police a few days later and told them he had seen the child but had been unable to stop, then was afraid to go back because of all the people in the street.