A 15-year-old persistent offender who seriously injured a police officer in a hit-and-run has been locked up for 12 months.

PC Richard Smeed suffered such a severe shoulder injury that he has still not returned to duties a year after he was accidentally run down.

The teenager, who cannot be named for legal reasons, was aged 14 at the time of the offence.

Maidstone Crown Court heard that the Metro car the youth was driving had been stolen from outside the owner’s home on April 23 last year.

Jonathan Higgs, prosecuting, said PC Smeed and another officer were on patrol on the A228 Cuxton Road in Strood in the early hours of the next day when they found a man lying in the road with others around him.

The officers got out of their car and spoke to the people there.

"PC Smeed heard screeching tyres and high revving of an engine and decided to try to stop a car which was travelling towards him," said Mr Higgs.

He waved a torch and held out his hand to indicate to the driver to stop. The car slowed down but then sped up again. It mounted the pavement and struck PC Smeed. He bounced off the bonnet onto the road.

Mr Higgs said the car made no attempt to stop and sped off to a nearby close, where those inside ran off.

PC Smeed and the other officer found the car nearby. At the time, he had no inkling of how badly he was injured, although his right leg felt numb and he was light-headed and shocked, said the prosecutor.

He was taken to hospital and treated for bruises and grazes. But it became apparent that his condition was more serious. PC Smeed told in a statement how he was in constant pain.

"The right shoulder injury alone amounts to really serious bodily harm," said Mr Higgs. "It is not suggested, and never has been, that the defendant intended such harm."

In admitting inflicting grievous bodily harm and aggravated vehicle taking, the teenager accepted that the officer wanted him to stop, but he had no intention of stopping. He said he planned to go round the officer. He added that he regretted causing injury.

Imposing a detention and training order, Judge Zoe Hammerton said it was a reckless piece of driving, although the youth did not intend to cause serious injury.