No compensation for girl injured by cyclist in Bognor

The bid by the parents of Abigail Murray, six, to receive some financial recognition of the trauma she suffered was rejected.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority ruled the cyclist '“ a 15-year-old boy '“ had not acted with criminal intent to hit Abigail, based on advice from the police.

This is despite the fact cycling on the pavement is an offence which is

punishable with a fixed penalty notice.

Abigail's mother, Donna Murray, 29, said: "We just feel like nobody cares about the fact Abigail was seriously injured and she is still receiving treatment.

"She is very affected by what has happened. She is terrified whenever she sees a cyclist on the pavement and she has wetted herself then.

What happened to her could happen to anybody. I know there are still people cycling on the pavements around the town."

The family had set no figure on the compensation being sought, she explained.

Abigail, then aged four, was injured on a walk with her mother and her two sisters from a family friend's home in Bognor last June to look at the rabbits in the pet shop on Aldwick Road.

Abigail stepped on to the pavement only to be hit by the cyclist and thrown into the air, according to her family, to land on the pavement on her head.

She was taken to St Richard's Hospital where it was found she had a fractured skull above her left eye and two areas of bleeding between her skull and her meninges. She was kept in hospital for four days. A doctor described her injuries as consistent with a GBH attack.

The cyclist, who failed to stop at the time, walked into the town's police station two days later.

Officers sought advice from the Crown Prosecution Service whose officials declined to prosecute the teenager.

He was given an official warning. The lawyers said his age meant they did not want to pursue him further.

He did not even receive the 30 fixed penalty notice which cyclists can get from the police for illegally riding their bikes on pavements.

Mrs Murray, who lives in Scotland, said: "Abigail still has to see a

psychiatrist as well as a neurosurgeon once a year. She is going to have to see the neurosurgeon until she is 12 because the bleeding in her meninges was very severe."

Abigail could also still face surgery. The area just above her left eyebrow is still swollen, overhangs the side of her face and could need removing by surgery.

"We are very upset by everything that has happened," added Mrs Murray. "We've never had an apology from the cyclist or his family. He seems to have got away with it, without even his bike being confiscated."

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