A mum has said she is 'disgusted' that a woman who hit her three-year-old son on a pelican crossing, leaving him with a fractured leg, has got off with just a warning.
Rebecca Bradshaw is outraged that the female driver was not prosecuted after the accident, which happened when toddler Jason was crossing the road in Hartlepool with his dad, Steven, 35, and his two sisters, Chloe, 11, and Karmen, eight.
The family had waited for the green light before proceeding, but the little boy was then hit by the car.
"His dad saw the car coming then it just clipped him with the back wheel," Rebecca explained.
Jason was said by the Hartlepool Mail to have been 'left in agony' as paramedics rushed to the scene and took him to Sunderland Royal Hospital. The little boy spent three days on a ward after being diagnosed with a fractured tibia and fibia.
This week, Rebecca received a letter telling her the motorist had been warned for driving without due care and attention and had taken part in a one-day approved driving skills course since the accident in September last year. The furious mum said she simply could not understand how the police could consider this the best course of action.
"I think it's disgusting," she said, "They should definitely have charged the driver and brought about a prosecution. This woman isn't being punished enough at all for hitting my son."
A spokesperson for Durham Police spokesperson told the paper that the driver had been given the option of completing the National Driver Alertness Course or going to court, which would have most likely resulted in a fine and driving licence endorsement being issued.
"She took the option of the course, which was completed in April," he said. "The option of enrolling on the National Driver Alertness Course is only offered to some drivers involved in collisions, depending on the circumstances."
"In this instance, it was felt that the option of attending a course would be more appropriate than a prosecution. The family of the victim were consulted about this decision prior to the driver being informed."