A driver who drove off from a crash leaving an injured child behind him has been given a community order.

Darren Graham Luke, 44, was not responsible for the collision between his car and the bicycle that led to the eight-year-old suffering grazing and a small cut, said Mel Ibbotson, prosecuting.

But York magistrates put nine penalty points on his licence because he drove off and didn’t report the incident, in Sixth Avenue on June 15, to a police station within 24 hours.

Ms Ibbotson said an eye-witness alerted police to what had happened, CCTV recorded Luke’s registration number and he was summonsed to court.

Luke, of Lady Mill Garth, Clifton, pleaded guilty to failure to stop following a collision and failure to report the collision.

He was ordered to do 50 hours’ unpaid work and ordered to pay a £95 statutory surcharge and £85 prosecution costs.

For him, Harry Bayman said he regretted driving off. He had panicked but it stayed on his mind and he worried about the child.

From inside the vehicle, he had shouted a warning to the child, who would have had time to stop, said Mr Bayman. 

Ms Ibbotson said Luke wasn’t driving fast and the child came riding out in the road at a blind corner.