A police officer was fined #400 after an 11-year-old girl was seriously injured when his unmarked car struck her on a pelican crossing as he responded to reports of an armed robbery.

Sadie Stevens lost a leg after being thrown into the air ?like a cartwheel? as she tried to cross the road with her nine-year-old sister in February last year.

Birmingham Magistrates Court was told that Pc James Nicholas Hibbert, 39, was driving in the bus lane in the city?s Newtown Road at speeds estimated at up to 47mph when the two girls stepped out from between stationary traffic.

Outside court, Sadie?s father, Brian, 54, of Newtown, claimed the penalty would have been more severe had the offender been a civilian.

?Eleven hundred pounds for the loss of a leg. I don?t think so,? he said. ?He should have been banned.?

See today's Birmingham Post for more