Victoria

Woman thrown more than 80 metres after stolen car hit at 152km/h, court learns

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A woman was thrown more than 80 metres when she was killed by a drunken driver in a hit-and-run crash in West Melbourne.

Tanami Nayler, 24, was heading to her friend's house about 2.15am on July 30, when a car driving about 152 km/h ran a red light and struck her as she walked across a pedestrian crossing on King Street, court documents say.

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A young woman, visiting a friend in Melbourne, is killed in a hit-run in Melbourne's western suburbs on Saturday morning. (Vision courtesy Seven News Melbourne)

She was killed instantly, her body striking a traffic pole and being flung a further 10 metres before coming to a halt in the middle of another intersection.

The Sydney woman had been in Melbourne for the weekend to celebrate her recent promotion at work.

Fairfax has reported she sent her mother a text message half an hour earlier to let her know she had arrived safely.

New Zealand national Nicholas Davison, 22, was driving the stolen car through the 60 km/h zone, the prosecution summary says. 

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Police estimated he would have had a blood alcohol limit of up to 0.22 per cent at the time, more than four times the legal 0.05 limit. 

Minutes earlier, he had stolen a car from an unmanned Thrifty rental agency near Southern Cross Station, after appearing "unable to stand properly" on CCTV footage.

Tanami Nayler was spending a weekend away in Melbourne.
Tanami Nayler was spending a weekend away in Melbourne.  Photo: Facebook

Davison matched a set of returned keys in the office with their car and drove away, crashing through the car park's boom gate.

Earlier that night, he had been separated from his friends, when he was repeatedly refused entry to a nightclub they had gone to. 

Tanami (centre) with her mum Vivien and dad Nabob (Don) on the night of her 21st birthday.
Tanami (centre) with her mum Vivien and dad Nabob (Don) on the night of her 21st birthday. Photo: Facebook

After the accident, CCTV footage shows Davison running past the woman's body and later dumping his clothes.

Police directing traffic near the crime scene later arrested him for being drunk, wearing his underwear. 

He had sent friends on Facebook a message after the crash that referred to him going to jail.

He also sent photos of his injuries from the crash to his friends on his phone.

He later told police he remembered stealing the car but not the crash, only his airbag being released at the time. 

Davison pleaded guilty on Monday to theft and culpable driving causing Ms Nayler's death via video link in the Melbourne Magistrates Court.

He also pleaded guilty to failing to immediately stop the car after the fatal accident, entering a car rental service intending to steal.

Prosecutors withdrew charges of dangerous driving causing death, reckless conduct endangering life before the accident, and failing to assist the victim afterwards.

Magistrate Charles Rozencwajg remanded the man to appear in the County Court for a pre-sentence hearing on February 22.

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