Distracted motorist deserved his sentence, judges have ruled

Thomas Michael Obrien, 28, was handed a six-month term - suspended for 18 months - at St Albans Crown Court in August last year after he was convicted of dangerous driving. 

Obrien, of North Orbital Road, St Albans, was also given a two-year driving ban. 

Mrs Justice Thirlwall, sitting with Judge John Milford QC in London's Appeal Court, said Obrien's four-wheel drive Mitsubishi struck the eight-year-old victim as he and his mother were leaving school near the A405 in Watford in June 2013. 

The child and his mother were walking over the pedestrian crossing from school , with the "green man" flashing in their favour, when Obrien shot through the traffic lights, colliding with the boy. 

He was "thrown into the air and onto the bonnet", said the judge, before being pulled along by the car and rolling onto the road. 

Obrien told police the boy ran out in front of him when the lights were amber, but he was ultimately convicted by the jury. He also claimed witnesses who testified against him "were biased because he was a traveller". 

Mrs Justice Thirlwall noted the accident's "devastating" impact on the youngster and his family. The boy had been rushed to hospital with suspected catastrophic head injuries, although he has since made a good recovery. 

"It is plain that this was a terrifying incident for him and also for his mother - but fortunately, in the end, his injuries were not serious," said the judge. 

Obrien's offence resulted not from recklessness, the court heard, but because he became "momentarily distracted" by a defect in the trailer he was pulling. 

Confirming both his sentence and two-year ban, the appeal judge concluded: "Having driven for one mile in a distracted fashion, he went through a red light and then drove into an eight-year-old child. 

"The judge was entitled to consider that this was a case which merited imprisonment and six months cannot be criticised."