Mini-moto victim dies in hospital

An 11-year-old boy badly burnt when a mini-motorcycle collided with a car in Kent has died in hospital.

Michael Rickman died on Saturday in the burns unit at Broomfield Hospital in Chelmsford, Essex, where he was taken after the accident on 1 July.

Michael Bonfield, aged 12, who also suffered burns in the accident in Ladywood road, Darenth, is still seriously ill in the same hospital.

He is in a stable condition and has been able to leave intensive care.

The two boys, who lived locally, suffered burns when the mini-motorbike caught fire after the collision.

Michael's mother, Anita Bonfield, later urged parents whose children had mini-motorcycles to "think twice about letting them ride it or even be a passenger on it".

An amnesty is currently under way in the Shepway area of Kent to encourage people to hand in off-road vehicles such as mini motorbikes which are illegal to use on public land or roads without insurance, road tax, registration documents or number plates.