HIT-AND-RUN NIGHTMARE
Schoolgirl left with post-traumatic disorder after being knocked down by disqualified driver
The parents of a Sunderland girl who was injured in a hitand-run collision on her way home from school say their daughter has been left with anxiety and post-traumatic stress following the ordeal.
Ten-year-old Bobbie Tighe, was crossing Redcar Road, Red House, when she was knocked down by a disqualified driver, who then failed to stop.
The Southwick Community School pupil was taken to Sunderland Royal Hospital with injuries that included a broken hip bone and a fractured pelvis.
On returning to her home – close to where the incident happened – Bobbie had to cope with being wheelchair bound while her injuries healed.
Mum Samantha Tighe, 28, and dad Jeffery Tighe, 32, who are also parents to Grayson, 17 months, and Bree, six months, said Christmas was a struggle for them as they coped with caring for Bobbie and the financial struggle of having to take time off work.
Bobbie returned to school on Monday, January 7, but is still reliant on crutches to walk.
Mum Samantha said: “She had only just started getting back from school by herself.
“She gets the bus and then walks home.
“She has her mobile on her and on the day of the collision I rang her when she was with her friends on the bus.
“I put Grayson on the phone to her, but then oneofthemams answered and said that Bobbie had been run over at the top of the street.
“When I got there she was lying in the middle of the road surroundedbypeoplefrom the nearby houses.” Joanne Catherine Elizabeth Beven, 41, was charged in connection with the incident, which happened at around 3.25pm on November 6, and appeared at South Shields Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday, January 9. Beven, of Helmesley Street, Hartlepool, pleaded guilty to a charge of causing serious injury by driving whilst disqualified. She also admitted driving while disqualified; using a motor vehicle without insurance or MoOT certificate; failing to stop after and failing to report an accident. She was also charged with using a motor vehicle in
a condition likely to cause danger of injury, but the court heard the police officer responsible for producing a report into the condition of Beven’s Renault Clio was on long-term sick.
Magistrates agreed to adjourn the seventh charge to January 31 for trial and Beven was released on unconditional bail.
Bobbie’s mum Samantha, a support worker, added: “I am glad she pleaded guilty, she can’t get away from it.”
“We have been very lucky. The hospital staff were amazing. We just want to get back to normality now.”
Bobbie even wrote a letter to the court expressing how she felt following the incident and informing them that she now suffered from anxiety and post traumatic stress disorder as a result.
Speaking to the Echo, Bobbie said: “She wouldn’t be happy if it was her own child. It’s turned my life upside down.”
Dad Jeffery added: “She suffersfromanxietyandPTSD now, but we will hope it will go away. She can’t sleep at the moment and has since frozen in the middle of a road.”
The family have also been touched by the kindness of the community, having only moved into the home shortly before the incident.
As well as support from neighbours and their landlord, the nearby tanning salon gave a hamper of treats to Bobbie and a fundraising page set up by two friends Dorry Spoors and Gill Binyon raised £520 for the youngster.