A DRIVER who hit a 12-year-old's bike after being provoked by other kids’ “outrageous” racial abuse has been ordered to pay him £1,000 compensation.

Gurbaghe Singh, 20, was told by a judge that the money could be used by family of the innocent victim to take him on holiday.

Teesside Crown Court heard that Singh was kissing his girlfriend in an alleyway when a group of youngsters gave them racial abuse, saying they should be deported.

Prosecutor Emma Atkinson said he got into his car in Acklam, Middlesbrough, then came around the corner at speed with screeching tyres.

Singh’s BMW accidentally hit the back of a bicycle ridden by the 12-year-old boy who had not been making racial remarks.

Judge Sean Morris said it was a “momentary piece of fast driving” with no suggestion that Singh deliberately drove at the boy.

In an impact statement, the youngster's mother said his back was injured in the collision, and has affected his daily life and playing sport.

Singh, of Fountains Drive, Middlesbrough, admitted dangerous driving, and was given a one-year community order with a three-month night-time curfew and a one-year driving ban, as well as the compensation payment.

Judge Morris told him: "“Just remember, next time you get into a car and speed off, cars are weapons.

“You’re a young man of good character who ordinarily is a hard-working decent individual who would never cause society any trouble.

“You were racially abused by a group of young children, which is outrageous, not the complainant in this case."

Ben Pegman, mitigating, said Singh’s character was otherwise “impeccable”, and told how he worked 50 hours a week in a shop while taking a gap from studies in medicine.