Man who hit boy with ebike in Middlesbrough issues stark warning
The collision happened in August last year
A man who hit a boy whilst riding an electric bike in Middlesbrough - leaving him with a traumatic brain injury - is issuing a stark warning that they're a weapon.
Michael Hill was 23 when he hit the boy with his bike on Westminster Road in Middlesbrough in August 2025.
He and his accomplice, Lee Oliver, had been riding around Middlesbrough on electric bikes without driving licences or insurance. Michael was a disqualified driver and both riders left the scene as soon as the collision happened.
The boy was taken to hospital where he was in an induced coma for three months, and became dependent on his parents, who had to travel to the Royal Victoria Infirmary in Newcastle to see him every day, whilst also looking after his siblings and continuing to work.
Michael spoke from prison, where he is serving a four-and-a-half year jail sentence for the collision. He said: “I wish I didn’t go out on the bike that day…they’re very dangerous, they’re a weapon.
“It’s affected me, it’s affected the child, it’s affected his parents, I wish I didn’t go out on the bike that day.
“I can’t sleep on a night, I still get bad dreams about what happened, about what I’ve done.
"I was literally going down the road, say not even 20mph, cruising down the road, and all of a sudden, a little boy runs in between two parked cars, into the handlebars of my bike.”
Fearing he was about to be attacked by the boy’s uncle and father, Hill fled on his bike, but said he now wishes he had stayed and “been a bigger person”.
The boy’s father, speaking via an actor, pleaded with people not to get on an e-bike, saying: “Even if one rider just stopped and thought….I’m not going to do this….I’m not going to cause harm to the people around me….it will mean a step in the right direction.
“If you or your children caused these serious injuries, or, God forbid, caused the death of a pedestrian – never mind the punishment for breaking any of the laws – would you be able to live with yourself?”