A hit-and-run driver has avoided any more jail time after being given six months to straighten himself out by the court.
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Seth Hay, 22, appeared at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, following a six-month deferral of sentence earlier this year for a series of driving offences.
The charges related to a series of offences committed in the Ballarat and Leopold areas across 2020 to 2022.
At about 5.30pm on January 29, 2022, Hay lost control of a Ford Falcon whilst turning into Tinworth Avenue from Whitehorse Road in Mount Clear.
The car, which Hay was driving despite only holding a learner's permit, lost traction and slid into the oncoming lane, where it collided head-on with another Ford Falcon driving in the opposite direction.
Hay did not exchange details with the driver of the car, instead taking off from the scene of the crash on foot along Tinworth Avenue.
The female driver of the other vehicle was taken to the Ballarat Base Hospital for observation, but was uninjured by the accident.
Hay also faced charges for his involvement in a Leopold hit-and-run in 2020.
At about 4.40pm on August 8, 2020, Hay was driving a Holden Cruze on Allanvale Avenue in Leopold, when he collided with a 14-year-old boy riding his bike through an intersection.
Hay fled the scene soon after impact, leaving the boy injured on the road.
Multiple witnesses saw the incident, and the 14-year-old was taken to the Geelong Hospital for observation.
Three days after the incident, police were patrolling around the area where the crash occurred in Leopold, when officers saw a tow truck loading the same Holden Cruze involved in the crash.
The driver told police he had been approached on the street by a man in Ballarat asking if he wanted to "make some quick cash" towing a vehicle.
The Holden Cruze was registered to a Smythesdale man.
Hay handed himself into police on August 14 at the Bellarine Police Station.
At a plea hearing in June, Hay was granted time by Magistrate Hugh Radford to continue his rehabilitation, with the ultimate sentence depending on the 22-year-old's behaviour.
On Wednesday Hay's lawyer told the court his client had "not set a foot wrong" during the deferral period.
Magistrate Ronald Saines called the hit-and-runs "very serious offending".
"This is very serious offending, particularly when looked at in a cumulative way," the magistrate said.
"Committing one lot of offences didn't seem to impact or slow you at all, and rather your offending escalated."
Hay also pleaded guilty to one charge of unlawful assault following an incident in Leopold, and multiple bail breaches.
He was sentenced to 14 days imprisonment, recognised as already served, and fined a total of $4586.70.
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