EXCLUSIVE: Hit-and-run sentence "insult" says mum of 10-year-old victim

The mum of a 10-year-old boy seriously injured in a motorbike hit-and-run earlier this year says the sentence handed to the men responsible is "an insult".

At Edinburgh Sheriff Court, Conor Whalen, 20, was sentenced to 3 years and 8 months in prison after pleading guilty to injuring the youngster on Ferry Road in August.

23-year-old Marc Miller got 2 years and 11 months for stealing a motorbike and driving dangerously.

They'll both also be kept under supervision for a year after they're released.

The pair were racing through the streets of Edinburgh on stolen high-powered motorbikes before the accident.

They then passed through a red light at a pedestrian crossing on Ferry Road in Drylaw, hitting a 10-year-old boy.

He was seriously injured and rushed to the Sick Kids hospital, where he was left fighting for his life.

The youngster is still recovering from his injuries and struggles to walk.

His mum, who can't be named for regal reasons, told Forth News: "I don't feel like my son has been given justice.

"He'll be 13 and these two will be out and living their lives, all while my son is still dealing with an arm that doesn't straighten properly, a leg with a limp and permanent scarring.

"Somehow they're allowed to come out in 2 or 3 years and live a normal life, it's not very fair is it?

"I feel gutted but on the other hand I feel relieved that it's all over now. But I would have expected a lot more.

"I don't even know if there is a number of years that I can give you that would be enough. I feel like this is an insult to my boy.

"I'm relieved that this side of things is over. But for me I feel like the journey is just beginning - cause I've been running on autopilot all this time. Now that the sentencing is done it's really only just hit me, everything that happened.

"He just wants the peace of mind that the two men are away in jail cause he's terrified. So, I think that when I tell him that they're in prison it'll put him at ease.

"These are the most terrifying people in my baby boy's life - so for him 3 or 4 years is a long time.

"Everything he's been through means he's had to grow up very quickly - which is horrible cause he's only 10."