THE lights at the intersection in Edgeworth had been red for nearly five seconds when a teenager - drunk, disqualified from driving and speeding away from police - careered into a maxi-taxi, flipping the van onto its side and injuring seven people, including critically injuring young mother-of-three Tamika Wever.
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The teenager, now 18, who cannot be identified because he was a juvenile at the time of the crash, had a month earlier been disqualified from driving for five years and would later that night record a blood alcohol reading of 0.069, court documents reveal.
And, after leaving a service station and catching the eye of police in a patrol car heading in the opposite direction, the teenager was "accelerating away" at more than 100km/h when he hurtled through the red light and into the intersection of Main Road and Garth Street before smashing into the maxi-taxi.
The teenager has pleaded guilty to eight offences, including dangerous driving occasioning grievous bodily harm, and was due to be sentenced in Broadmeadow Children's Court on Wednesday but a miscommunication meant those impacted by the horrific crash, including Ms Wever, had not been able to provide victim impact statements to the court.
The matter was adjourned until January when it is expected the teenager will finally learn his fate.
It was about 1.13am on September 26 last year and the teenager was driving a Holden Statesman packed with other teenagers through Edgeworth when he was spotted by patrolling police.
As police did a u-turn, intending to pull over the car, the teenager sped away and was travelling at about 103km/h as the car approached the red light on Garth Street.
The light had been red for about 4.76 seconds and the maxi-taxi carrying six passengers had began turning into Main Road when the teenager's car shot through the intersection and smashed into the driver's side. The maxi-taxi rolled onto its side and a total of seven passengers in both cars suffered serious injuries, including multiple fractures and lacerations.
Ms Wever was thrown from the van and suffered a traumatic brain injury.