The girl was placed in an induced coma with life-threatening internal injuries and a fractured rib but is understood to now be out of hospital. She was not wearing a helmet and was travelling on the wrong side of the road weaving in and out of traffic, with the prosecution accepting Nguyen was not responsible for the collision. However it took four days for Nguyen to hand herself into police after she fled the scene, with Judge Gabrielle Cannon suggesting the beauty salon owner "left her [the victim] for dead". “[It was] good fortune that there were people around who had a presence of mind and good conscience [to stay and help]," Judge Cannon said. “It was an accident waiting to happen, but of course that doesn’t excuse your client [Nguyen] from taking off afterwards." The 13-year-old girl's bike was left warped after the hit-run in Coburg. Nguyen later claimed she did not realise she had hit someone, though some of the victim's hair was left in the windscreen of the car she was driving.

Prosecutor Robyn Harper said that, instead of jail, Nguyen should lose her licence for four years and partake in community service and road trauma awareness programs. Nguyen's defence counsel, David Grace QC, argued that his client did stop in a side street because it was dangerous to do so on busy Bell St and that she ran back to the corner to assess the scene. He said Nguyen believed she had only hit a bike, and that she initially thought no one was injured because she saw two children standing with bikes from the corner she had run to. Thi Nguyen leaves the County Court on Wednesday. Credit:AAP Mr Grace said his client felt her limited English meant she could not help and that she was in a state of panic.

“She didn’t escape the scene because she wanting to avoid police ... nor did she seek to leave the scene because of [alcohol or drugs]," Mr Grace said. “That [leaving the scene] was a huge mistake on her part and one that she will always regret." He said it took her four days to hand herself in because it was Melbourne Cup weekend and she could not contact a lawyer for three days. When she did, on the Wednesday, the lawyer told police immediately and it was agreed Ms Nguyen would hand herself in on the Thursday morning. Thi Nguyen after handing herself in November. Credit:Jason South Ms Harper said Nguyen had committed the offences because she did not stay at the scene for long enough or try and help the victim.

"She stopped very briefly around the corner but she did not render assistance and she didn't stop immediately," Ms Harper said. Ms Harper said Nguyen knew police were looking for her as early as the day after the incident because of media reports and because the car was registered in a friend's name, who contacted Nguyen after police told them they were looking for the BMW driver. Mr Grace said Nguyen moved to Australia from Vietnam in 2012 and had not seen her two children for almost a year, because the conditions of her bail did not allow her to travel back to Vietnam. "She is remorseful and regrets her actions," he said. "This was a huge mistake on her part and one she will always regret ... she has consistently prayed at her temple for the welfare of the child." Mr Grace said a community corrections order and the loss of her driver's licence for four years would be punishment enough due to her full-time work responsibilities, however Ms Harper argued Nguyen should also undertake some sort of road trauma program.