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A hit-run learner driver has apologised in court for leaving a toddler seriously injured on a Melbourne road as he continued his trip to pick up takeaway food. Zachery Davin Larkins, 21, has pleaded guilty to failing to stop and render assistance after the two-year-old boy ran onto the road at Laverton last September. He has also admitted failing to display L plates, driving unaccompanied and failing to report the crash to police. In the Koori Court in Melbourne on Monday, Larkins told the mother of his victim "I'm very sorry for my behaviour," adding he wished he hadn't done what he did. Larkins had been on his way to pick up Subway in his partner's Holden Commodore on the night of September 9 when the toddler ran from his family home onto Railway Avenue, according to court documents. The 21-year-old later told police he had seen someone running towards him, waving their hands in the air and yelling out but was unsure what was happening. This turned out to be one of the toddler's siblings yelling "Stop. Stop. Stop" before Larkins turned his attention back to the road and saw the child standing in front of the car. He could not stop in time and hit the little boy, panicked and kept driving to Altona Meadows Central Square Shopping Centre, where he left the car after inspecting it, collected his food and walked home. Larkins told court "I'm very disappointed in myself ... that I decided not to stop". "I think about it every day," he said. His lawyer said because Larkins could tell the family were at the crash scene to look after the injured child, it was different to a case where no one was around to help. "He was just in a state of shock," Christina Gomez Vazquez said. "He's a 21-year-old man who's essentially panicked and kept going ... in hindsight, of course, he wouldn't react in that way now." No driving error or mechanical fault contributed to the crash, and Larkins had been driving between 41 km/h and 50 km/h in a 60 zone, according to prosecutors. The hit-run left the boy in a coma, with a lacerated liver, bruised lungs and facial cuts, and unable to eat or walk properly. The child's mother told court her son remained scared to get into cars and was "behind in everything", which wasn't the case before the crash. She has moved to avoid seeing Larkins, who lived on the same street. He remains on bail and is expected to return to court on July 29. Australian Associated Press

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