Court hears of schoolboy hit by car

Bryant, 52, of St Peter's Rectory, Church Street, this week pleaded guilty to careless driving before magistrates in Hastings.

The court heard that schoolboy Reese Bennett was on his way to school at 8.30am on January 18 this year when he crossed a zebra crossing on the A259 at Little Common.

Mark Kately, prosecuting, told the court that a red car came to a stop at the crossing to let him stop.

He said: "He saw another vehicle in the other direction slowing down and he thought that it was safe to cross. When he was about a quarter of the way across he felt a heavy sensation on his legs.

"He was pushed to the floor by the vehicle.

"He suffered bruising to his elbow causing considerable pain.

"Bryant was driving and she had a couple of passengers with her. She said it was a dull, grey, winter morning. She said that he was looking the other way and was wearing an MP3 player. She informed the police of the incident and they arrived on the scene."

Olivia Dobbie, mitigating, said that the youngster had insisted he was okay and wanted to go onto school.

She said: "My client was driving well within the speed limit. It's simply unfortunate that she failed to stop in time.

"It was a momentary element of misjudgement.

"She has never been in trouble before and is an upstanding member of public."

Magistrates fined Bryant 300, added six penalty points to her licence, and ordered her to pay 35 costs and a 15 surcharge.