A 23-year-old man has admitted causing the death of a 12-year-old schoolboy in a hit-and-run in Coventry, after fleeing to his native Latvia and being extradited back to the UK. Dolars Aleksanders pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to causing the death of Keaton Slater by dangerous driving, following a lengthy investigation by West Midlands Police and Europol. The case is significant both for the severity of the offence, described by the judge as warranting "a very long" sentence, and for the cross-border effort needed to bring Aleksanders to justice.

Police said Aleksanders was driving a black BMW at over 70mph on Radford Road when he struck Keaton, who was crossing the road, shortly after 4.30pm on 14 June 2024. He fled the scene, abandoning the car more than six miles away around 20 minutes later, and was not extradited from Latvia until 5 August 2026. He entered his plea via video link from HMP Dovegate, with sentencing set for 13 November before Judge Kristina Montgomery KC; Keaton's parents, present in court, said they could "finally" feel that justice had been done after more than two years of grief.