Mum jailed after covering for her hit-and-run biker son

A mother has been sentenced to more than two years in prison for organising a cover-up after her son seriously injured a six-year-old boy in a hit-and-run.

Terry Follows was found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice for playing a "leading role" in helping Kaylem Longhurst evade justice.

Motorcyclist Longhurst, now 18, hit and seriously injured Arlo Buckley, now eight, in Flintshire.

Longhurst's sister, Cara Haran, and her partner, Shane Hunt, were also involved in the cover-up.

Arlo was left with multiple injuries after the hit-and-run on Central Drive in Shotton, Flintshire, on 11 September 2024.

After the crash, Hunt drove Longhurst to York, and Haran burned her brother's clothes.

But Longhurst was arrested in York and admitted dangerous driving.

At a trial at Mold Crown Court, Longhurst, Hunt and Follows were all found guilty of conspiracy to pervert the course of justice.

Follows was sentenced to 26 months in prison; Hunt was sentenced to 21-months; and Haran to nine months in prison.

The judge told Follows she "organised all this", despite a variety of factors suggesting she should take "a different course of action".

He said Follows and Hunt had shown "no remorse" for Arlo being seriously injured.

"No sentence I can pass can correct the terrible wrong that was done to this little boy," he said.

The judge said Follows had been told about her then 16-year-old son's dangerous driving in the community but had "done nothing".

He said she knew the bike was in a dangerous condition and that he "should not have been on the road at all".

After the crash, the judge said Longhurst "made the choice to run away with his bike".

"He said he thought he had killed the child; he said so himself during the trial," the judge said.

"He knew he shouldn't have been on the road, so he set about doing everything he could to distance himself from these facts."

The judge said Longhurst then called his mother who "set about organising a conspiracy" to help her son evade justice.

This involved Haran burning his clothes, the removal of his bike to nearby alleyway and "getting him as far away as possible".

"All this is going on while a helicopter is called to the scene for Arlo," the judge added.

Impact statements from Arlo's parents said their son was still under treatment with the hospital's neurological department and an epilepsy clinic.

They do not know what future physical and psychological effects the crash might continue to have.

Dad Danny said the experience had been "every parent's worst nightmare".

Mum Hannah said she was "petrified" her son would die and "he just looked lifeless".

She described how he had changed from being a "polite, funny little boy" who had liked lots of cuddles to one who gets overwhelmed by crowds.

Temporary Det Insp Katie Davies, from North Wales Police, called it a "shocking and deeply distressing incident".

"What is particularly concerning is that members of Longhurst's own family then assisted him in attempting to evade justice, including helping him leave the area and destroy evidence," she said.