Woman pleads guilty to damaging car after reversing into it

The 71-year-old woman last week read out a speech to the Bendigo Magistrates' Court after pleading guilty to charges of failing to report a crash to police and failing to leave her details at the scene of a crash.

The court heard about 5.30pm on May 8 this year, the victim parked their Holden ute in the car park of the All Seasons Hotel in Strathdale.

Read other news: Grass and scrub fire brought under control at Mia Mia

About 11.40pm, the 71-year-old woman exited the All Seasons after socialising with friends.

She entered the driver's seat of her silver Mercedes and reversed it back into the Holden ute.

The court heard the woman got out of her car and inspected the damage before trying to drive off.

A witness stopped the woman but she pretended that nothing had happened and left the scene before providing any details.

The ute's front bumper was dislodged in the incident and cost $2113.86 to repair. There was silver paint left on the bumper.

Police contacted the woman the next day and she came into the Bendigo Police Station for an interview. She told officers there had not been a collision.

Read more crime: Kangaroo Flat man charged after alleged dangerous driving incident

The woman, who represented herself in court, read out a statement to the magistrate saying she had been unaware that she made contact with the other vehicle.

The woman said she only found a small scratch on her Mercedes, which could have been caused at any point.

She denied speeding away from the scene and said she only consumed two mid-strength beers while at the venue.

The woman said she later put in an insurance claim and the damaged ute was repaired as a result.

Magistrate Trieu Huynh said he accepted the woman had a good driving history and she acted to reimburse the victim.

Mr Huynh placed the 71-year-old on a six-month good behaviour bond without conviction.

As part of the bond, the woman will need to pay $500 to the court fund.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: