A MAN has pleaded guilty to causing a boy serious injuries by driving dangerously.

Daniel James Jeff admitted a series of offences in relation to when he was at the wheel of a Mercedes A180 and collided with the child in Melbury Avenue, Poole.

The boy suffered life-changing injuries having been hit on the head by the car and carried on the vehicle before striking the pavement on August 21, last year.

Jeff, 28 and of Tollard Close, Poole, pleaded guilty to charges of causing serious injury by dangerous driving, drug driving, possessing 22 grams of cannabis and failing to stop after the collision when he appeared at Poole Magistrates’ Court yesterday.

Jane Nott, prosecuting, told the court that the case was “a very short incident in time but one which had a profound impact on the victim”.

Ms Nott said Jeff admitted to police he saw the victim and other children as he was driving along the road.

“He sounded his horn and tried to get between the gap between two children,” said Ms Nott.

She added: “Witnesses described him as accelerating towards the victim.”

A subsequent crash with another vehicle was “narrowly avoided”, the court heard.

Ms Nott said it was an “extremely serious incident”, noting that there were traffic calming measures, such as speed bumps, in the area.

She told magistrates that the defendant knows the area, with him living locally.

The court heard Jeff was three-and-a-half times over the limit for THC, a psychoactive constituent of cannabis. The defendant had told police that he used the drug the previous evening.

Ms Nott said the defendant was “not in the right frame of mind” at the time. Representing Jeff, Naomi North said this statement was in relation to the mental health issues he suffers, adding that he is a vulnerable person.

She said her client does not accept that he was impaired by the cannabis he had taken.

Due to the seriousness of the offence, the case was sent to Bournemouth Crown Court for sentencing later this month.

Magistrate David Lawrence, who chaired the hearing, told the defendant: “The offence is so serious that you need greater punishment than we can give.”

The bench ordered a pre-sentence report to be prepared ahead of the next hearing, which was provisionally listed for May 28 at Bournemouth Crown Court.

Jeff was remanded on conditional bail and issued with an interim driving ban.