A man who knocked down a talented dancer in a hit and run and leaving her for dead is to be sentenced this week after changing his plea.

Alessia Boschiazzo, 14, from Carshalton, was knocked down on Morland Road, Addiscombe, at about 7pm on February 25 last year.

The popular teenager, who was a student at Ursuline High School in Wimbledon, suffered severe head injuries and a broken pelvis after being mown down as she went to meet friends.

Alessia, who had been preparing herself for an audition at the Brit School, spent a week in a coma before she died as a result of her injuries, surrounded by her family.

Stephen Saunders, of Gardeners Close, Mottingham, was due to stand trial this week charged with death by dangerous driving, but changed his plea at a pre-trial review hearing on April 13.

The 22-year-old handed himself into Croydon police station 10 days after the incident.

He had previously pleaded guilty to driving and causing a death while uninsured, driving and causing a death while unlicensed and one count of perverting the course of justice, in November 2011.

During the hearing, the court heard Saunders set fire to the Renault Clio involved in the accident later that night and the car was found burned out in nearby Davies Close.

Video footage captured by CCTV at a nearby car garage on Morland Road showed the green car spinning in the road before Alessia was knocked down.

The car then spins around again and drives off at high speed.

Saunders will be sentenced at Croydon Crown Court on April 26.