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The Canberra Times
The Canberra Times
National
Blake Foden

'Serious questions' about driver following fatal crash

Ameen Hamdan outside court in April after his first appearance.

There are "serious questions" about a driver's fitness to plead following a crash that killed a 16-year-old girl, a court has heard.

Ameen Hamdan, 19, has been charged over the early morning October 2020 incident with culpable driving causing death.

The P-plater is further accused of contravening the conditions of his driver's licence.

He was summonsed to appear in court after allegedly crashing a car into a tree on Longmore Crescent in Wanniassa, leaving passenger Alexis Saaghy with life-threatening injuries.

The 16-year-old girl died in hospital three days after the smash.

Mr Hamdan's Legal Aid lawyer, Edward Chen, applied in the ACT Magistrates Court on Thursday for an eight-week adjournment.

"There are serious questions as to whether my client is fit to plead," Mr Chen said.

"We're seeking a neurological assessment."

Magistrate Beth Campbell granted the request, saying Mr Hamdan should not be driving in the meantime and asking prosecutors to contact licensing authorities to ensure he would be off the roads.

The 19-year-old is due to return to court on September 2.

Superintendent Corey Heldon, of ACT Policing, has previously said there were four people in the car when it crashed.

All of them were hurt, she said, but the girl who ultimately died was the only one who sustained life-threatening injuries.

Superintendent Heldon last year described the weather at the time in question as "terrible".

"Drive to your capabilities and drive to the conditions on the road," she said in the wake of the teenage girl's death.

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