Magistrate linked to hit and run

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A community magistrate is understood to have been travelling with the man accused of a fatal hit and run.

The Waikato Times understands the magistrate was a passenger in the car involved in the incident in which William Gregory Hoskins, 26, died after being run over on State Highway 1B at Matangi early on January 15.

A man appeared in Hamilton District Court last week charged with careless driving causing death, but suppression orders prevent the Times from naming him.

Mr Hoskins was found by a passing motorist with multiple injuries and was still breathing when emergency services arrived.

However, he died shortly after.

Mr Hoskins had been at the wedding of his cousin, Erin Hoskins, and her fiance, Oliver Cameron.

His father, Greg Hoskins, believes his son might have decided to walk back to the Riverside of Cambridge Motel and Conference Centre when he was struck by a car between 4.30am and 4.50am.

Mr Hoskins told the Times yesterday that he hoped justice would be served and questioned suppression orders around the case and why the accused had appeared in court a day earlier than police had initially indicated.

However, he still wanted to see the accused's face and would be there when he appeared next month.

"I want to see his face. I'm going to come up on my own and have a good look at him."

Mr Hoskins said he was with police as they marked out the scene where his son was killed.

"I was actually there when the cops were going through it all and marking the road out."

Mr Hoskins, affectionately known as "Grems" or "Gremlin", was the oldest of three siblings and had worked for his father's concreting company, JMC Concrete, in Hastings for the past five years after finishing an electrical apprenticeship.

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