A CARELESS hit-and-run driver who knocked a 10-year-old boy off his bike and left him screaming in agony in the road has had his appeal against a 20-week prison sentence thrown out.

Preston Crown Court heard how victim Keaton Adams, who is now 11, was riding his bike in Romney Walk, Blackburn, at 3.50pm on November 2 when he was hit by a silver Saab estate being driven by Aqib Mohammed.

The court heard that rather than stop, Mohammed, 24, drove around the corner to a friend’s house where he abandoned the car and went shopping.

After handing himself into police later that day, Mohammed, of Burlington Street, Blackburn, told officers that he had stopped and that Keaton had told him he was OK.

However, prosecutor Kimberley Obrusik said Keaton had been thrown 10 metres, landed on the kerb and fractured his leg in two places.

Ms Obrusik said: “One woman described seeing the car driving at speed. That’s unusual on that road. It has a 20mph limit.

“A number of witnesses heard a bang. Keaton was on the road at the time. He describes stopping to let the car go past. He describes the car speeding up and hitting him. He ended up ten metres down the road. He flew off his bike and hit his leg on the kerb. He broke his tibia and fibula.

“Keaton describes seeing the car slow down. The driver of the car smirks at him before the car is driven off.”

Ms Obrusik said Keaton was taken to Manchester Children’s Hospital and had a cage fitted around his leg. He remained there for three weeks. He was discharged to Royal Blackburn Hospital where he had a further operation.

Because of the injury to his leg he was confined to a wheelchair but he is now back walking.

Ms Obrusik said: “He is still limping. He said that is because his leg is not very strong because he’s not been able to walk on it for a significant amount of time. He did play football for Blackburn Eagles. He had been told he won’t be able to play football for at least a year.

“He had to sleep downstairs with his mum because he couldn’t get upstairs. He still has to sleep in his mother’s bed because he still has nightmares and can’t sleep alone.

“As a result of this incident he did miss a lot of school and he had his SATs earlier this year.”

After pleading guilty to failing to stop after an accident, driving without due care and attention and driving without insurance on the day he was due to stand trial at Blackburn Magistrates Court, Mohammed was jailed for 20 weeks.

Magistrates also banned Mohammed, who already had six points on his licence for driving without insurance, from driving for 12 months.

But Mohammed appealed the jail sentence, claiming it was too harsh.

The court heard that a probation officer had recommended that magistrates impose a community order, with a curfew and unpaid work.

Defence barrister Jo Shepherd said although she accepted her client’s action warranted being in the highest category of the sentencing guidelines, it was unusual for first-time offenders to be jailed.

Ms Shepherd said: “He married a woman who has four children a couple of days before he entered his guilty plea.

“The concerns Mr Mohammed has raised aren’t for himself but for his partner who has severe asthma and suffers blackouts. He’s concerned about the effects on her being able to look after her four children.”

Judge Beverley Lunt, sitting alongside two magistrates, rejected the appeal saying magistrates were entitled to impose the sentence they did given the number of aggravating features in the case.