A Darwin man responsible for a hit and run which killed a 52-year-old pedestrian last year has narrowly avoided jail time.
Joshua Maxwell pleaded guilty to one charge of failing to stop and render assistance after the crash on the corner of Vanderlin Drive and Gsell Street in Darwin's northern suburbs last October.
Maxwell was given a 12-month jail sentence, suspended immediately, on the condition he enter home detention.
The Northern Territory Supreme Court heard the 32-year-old drove away from the scene of the crash, leaving the 52-year-old victim, who was suffering significant injuries, to be found by passers-by.
He died in hospital days later.
"There's no suggestion that the defendant's manner of driving contributed whatsoever to the tragic accident," Maxwell's lawyer Peter Maley told the court.
"There was nothing he could have done, given the injuries. A highly intoxicated pedestrian effectively stepped out [onto the road]."
The court heard Maxwell told his parents what had happened immediately after the crash, and he was taken to the police station by his father days later.
Northern Territory Police released CCTV footage of his car as they sought to identify the driver following the crash.
"There is no allegation you were intoxicated, though it is always suspicious when somebody leaves the scene of an accident in the way in which you did," Justice John Burns said.
"It is not suggested that some different outcome would have occurred if you stopped as you were required to do."
The maximum sentence Maxwell faced was 10 years imprisonment, however, Justice Burns noted his early guilty plea and the circumstances of the offence meant it was at "the bottom end" of seriousness when calculating his sentence.
