AN insurance boss who drove off after hitting an 11-year-old boy with his car today kept his licence.
The child was crossing the road just outside his house when he was struck by a car and hurled into the air.
His mother described the sentence as "lenient" and said: "He is a father himself, would he leave his own child after they were knocked down
?
"Anyone who leaves a child after hitting them should have their licence taken off them."
The child was hit with such force that he cracked driver Graham Hercus' windscreen before slumping to the ground with a broken collar bone and shoulder.
But instead of rushing him to hospital, Hercus drove off minutes after the accident.
The 44-year-old insurance manager was fined £300 at Edinburgh Sheriff Court today and handed eight penalty points after admitting leaving the scene of an accident and failing to give his details to police.
Father-of-two Hercus came forward after hearing police appeals for the driver to own up.
The boy suffered a broken collar bone, as well as breaking a bone in his shoulder and needed 12 stitches above his left eye after the crash in January, and needed months of physiotherapy at Edinburgh's Sick Children's hospital.
His mother said: "The physiotherapist just gave him the all-clear and he has just got back to playing football.
"He has a scar on his head and he is more wary of roads. It has definitely knocked his confidence a bit."
The court heard how the boy had been walking in Marionville Road in Restalrig when one of them slipped. The victim ran out to his help his friend but was struck by Hercus' car.
Fiscal depute Graham Fraser said: "The impact was such that the boy struck the windscreen.
"The boy limped across the road and the accused stood in the roadway but left the accident without leaving his details."
Hercus' solicitor, Kenneth McFarlane, said Hercus, of Farrer Terrace in Edinburgh, stopped to make sure the boy was all right before leaving.
He added friends of the injured boy told Hercus that they would see he was taken care of and, after watching for a few minutes, Hercus returned to his car.
Mr McFarlane added that his client immediately contacted police when he heard of the police appeal.
Sheriff James Scott said: "Given the very exceptional circumstances I will impose eight penalty points rather than disqualify you."
The full article contains 420 words and appears in Edinburgh Evening News newspaper.
