Man pleads guilty to causing deaths of Oldham girls
He admitted failing to stop after the accident
Story By Pat Hurst - PA
A man has pleaded guilty to causing the deaths of two young girls in a hit-and-run on New Year's Eve. Gabor Hegedus, 38, admitted two counts of causing death by careless driving, after cousins Zaneta Krokova, 11, and Helina Kotlarova, 12, were killed while crossing Ashton Road in Oldham at about 7.15pm on January 31. Hegedus entered his guilty pleas, via an interpreter, from the dock in a brief hearing at Manchester's Minshull Street Crown Court as the dead girls' parents and other relatives watched from the public gallery. Hegedus, a Hungarian living in Oldham, had already at an earlier hearing admitted perverting the course of justice by disposing of the Peugeot 807 he had been driving and falsely reporting it stolen to police. He had also admitted failing to stop after the accident, failing to report an accident and driving without a licence. Appearing alongside Hegedus was David Orsos, 18, who pleaded guilty to a single charge of perverting the course of justice. An application to dismiss the charge of perverting the course of justice against Janos Kalayanos, 50, was heard and will be ruled on by Judge John Potter on Tuesday morning. Zoltan Peto, 49, also of Oldham, pleaded not guilty to perverting the course of justice at the same hearing and will go on trial on June 26. Hegedus and Orsos will be sentenced at the conclusion of the trial in June. Judge Potter remanded all four defendants into custody until then. The girls had just come out of a shop near their homes when the crash happened. Helina was pronounced dead at the scene and Zaneta died later in hospital.