Horror as toddler falls off new trike and under passing bus

Rumana Shimpi shrieked hysterically and tried to grab her son Aryan who went under the bus and suffered fatal head injuries.

Mrs Shimpi and her husband Prafulla sobbed through the inquest which heard that the accident happened in Lidgett Lane at the junction with Gledhow Lane, Roundhay.

The bus driver, who was not named, stopped the double decker after hearing screaming and then saw the child's body which had been thrown back onto the pavement.

Coroner David Hinchliff said: "The police do not consider that the driver of the bus would have had prior warning and could have taken any further avoiding action."

Aryan was given mouth-to-mouth resuscitation by his mother before being taken to Leeds General Infirmary where he was pronounced dead at 4.35pm on June 24 last year.

The inquest heard that Aryan, who was born in India, had only had the tricycle for two days when the accident happened.

Mrs Shimpi was returning home to Thorn Lane, Roundhay, with Aryan after registering him at a local nursery.

She had been trying to hold onto the tricycle when the boy pedalled six foot ahead of her on the pavement.

But Aryan lost his balance as the stabilisers went over the edge of the kerb and he fell under the nearside wheel of the passing bus.

A statement by Mrs Shimpi was read out in court. It said: "I felt a bus passing right next to us... in a fraction of a second Aryan fell off the tricycle and rolled under the bus. I tried to get him, I struggled and ran along until the bus came to a halt. It was too late."

No passengers were on the bus which was negotiating a sharp bend and traffic island and was travelling slowly at around five to 10mph.

In a statement from the bus driver, she told how she had seen the both mother and toddler on the pavement prior to the accident.

Reading out the bus driver's statement, Mr Hinchliff said: "I continued slowly but I cannot recall seeing either the child or the lady while I was checking my mirrors. Suddenly I heard a shriek from the nearside of the bus."

The bus driver said she saw the body and a hysterical Mrs Shimpi and "felt sick" as she called the police.

"If I had not heard the lady cry out, I would not have known there had been a collision."

At the time, Mr Shimpi told the YEP his only child was a "very intelligent, very talkative and very friendly" little boy who was liked by all who met him.

The Coroner recorded a verdict of accidental death.