A CYCLIST who smashed into a schoolboy on the pavement, breaking his arm, has been fined £50 by magistrates.

Michael Gosz was said to be riding in the dark without lights along a footpath when he crashed into 10-year-old Joel Mallon in St George’s Place, Canterbury.

The schoolboy suffered a double break to his left forearm, concussion and cuts and bruises and had to spend the night in hospital.

The case has taken three months to come to court and Gosz, 30, of Dorset Road, Canterbury, was summoned before Dover magistrates for riding on the pavement, a charge he admitted.

Now Joel's mother, Jane Wilford, says she is both disappointed they were not told the hearing was taking place in Dover and by the low fine.

She said: “We would have liked to have gone to the hearing, but the first we heard about it was when a letter from the courts’ service arrived, saying Mr Gosz had been ordered to pay Joel £200 in compensation.

“There was no mention of what actual penalty he received but I am surprised to now find that the fine was so small.”

She added: “We are most upset that Mr Gosz has never made any attempt to apologise to my son, who he badly hurt.”

Joel, who attends St Christopher’s School, was walking home to Churchill Road from the city centre when the accident happened last November.

* The maximum fine for riding on the pavement is £500. Charges of riding carelessly or dangerously carry stiffer penalties.