The dad of a young boy left with life-threatening injuries after he was hit by a motorbike has described the "anger" he still feels after the rider fled the scene.
Danny Buckley said he thinks about the crash involving his son Arlo, now eight, "most nights" after the boy was struck and dragged along the road as he attempted to cross the street in Shotton, Flintshire, in September 2024.
Kaylem Longhurst, 18, from Nantwich, Cheshire, admitted dangerous driving in relation to the crash and was further found guilty of trying to evade justice on Friday.
"I would have been a bit more compassionate towards Kaylem if he did stop and he did help my son who was lying there unconscious," Buckley said.
"But because he left him there... and just to pick his motorbike up and push it down the street like nothing has happened, it doesn't sit well with me at all."
Buckley was at work about 90 minutes away when he received a phone call from Arlo's 12-year-old sister Olivia, who had witnessed the crash on Central Drive.
She told him: "Arlo's been hit by a motorbike, but the guy's drove off and left him."
By the time he arrived, emergency services had cordoned off the street and paramedics were treating Arlo at the scene.
"I couldn't believe what was happening, and I just remember going straight to the back of the ambulance," he said.
Arlo had suffered a seizure at the roadside and was placed into an induced coma before being airlifted to Alder Hey Children's Hospital in Liverpool, with Buckley travelling alongside him.
Arlo, who was six years old at the time, had suffered multiple serious injuries.
"He had a broken femur, he had multiple skull factures behind his left ear, he had bruising on the brain, he also had some fractures on his pelvis and he had a broken left shoulder as well," Buckley said.
At the hospital, Arlo was taken for scans before doctors performed a procedure to relieve pressure on his brain. He remained in an induced coma in intensive care for five days.
His dad stayed with him during the nights, while his mum was with him in the day.
Arlo was later found to have a blocked artery in the back of his neck supplying blood to the brain and was given blood thinners to reduce the risk of stroke.
Looking back on the day of the crash, Buckley remembers the bond he formed with the air ambulance pilot.
"I developed quite a close relationship with John because he was a father himself.
"He even said to me, a few months later, 'that case will always stay with me', and it was one of the worst he's been to over his career."
Buckley added that John told him he had gone home that night and "shed a tear for Arlo".
Arlo spent around three-and-a-half weeks in hospital before he was discharged but has since developed epilepsy and takes medication to control seizures.
Buckley said the effects of Arlo's brain injury have also changed his behaviour and personality, leaving him more short-tempered, easily frustrated and tired.
"I did see the brain scans at the hospital and there was a lot of bruising on his brain," he said.
"He's not the same boy... in school you know, they remember Arlo being this gentle calm boy and now they've seen a real difference in him.
"It's just he's not the same child as he used to be," he said.
In the 18 months since the incident, Arlo has returned to school on a gradual basis with additional support in place, initially attending two days a week, and Buckley has praised the staff’s “absolutely fantastic” support.
The trauma has also affected the wider family, with Arlo’s sister Olivia diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder. She and her mother have both undergone specialist counselling.
Buckley said he finds it difficult to think that while Arlo was in intensive care, Kaylem Longhurst and his family were attempting to cover up his involvement in the crash.
“They took him to York, they burnt clothing, they hid his motorbike... and all this is going on while my son’s lying in an ICU bed,” he said.
Longhurst admitted to dangerous driving in relation to the crash; however, he and three others—including his mother Terry Follows—42; had denied conspiracy to pervert the course of public justice.
On Friday, Longhurst Follows and Shane Hunt—the ex-partner of his sister—were found guilty of perverting the course of justice by plotting to remove him from the area to avoid arrest.
A fourth defendant Dane Longhurst was found not guilty.
Cara Haran Longhurst’s older sister had already pleaded guilty to her role in the conspiracy.
Judge Simon Mills said the three defendants had shown “no remorse” in relation to Arlo Buckley.
The judge said the bike should never have been on the road in the first place and told the court it was inevitable Longhurst would spend time at a young offender institution, taking into account that he was 16 at the time of the crash.
The Buckley family say their priority now is ensuring Arlo receives the specialist support he needs.