A careless motorist who mounted a pavement and killed a toddler, who was on his way home with his heavily-pregnant mother, walked free from court with just a “paltry” fine.

The parents of 22-month-old Thomas Hussell said the punishment Zahed Khan received could never compensate them for the loss of their baby.

Khan, 67, from Wallington, was fined just £1,500 and banned from driving for 12 months after pleading guilty to driving without due care and attention at Croydon Crown Court.

He ran over Thomas as the toddler was leaving Abbeywood Grange nursery school in Kenley with his eight months pregnant mum Rachel on March 12.

Thomas suffered severe head injuries when Khan, driving a black Toyota Yaris, ran into him on the pavement.

It is thought Khan pulled into a private driveway and crashed into an unattended parked car before running into Thomas and his mother, by pressing the accelerator on his car instead of the brake.

The accident happened only five months before a new law was brought in – causing death by careless driving – which can result in a prison sentence.

Dad Ben Hussell said: “We are pleased that the judge used the powers available to him to give as severe a sentence as the law at that time permitted.

“This in no way compensates for the loss of our son Thomas.

“We are aware that the law has now been strengthened to deal with these sort of collisions.”

Gavin Barwell, Croydon Council’s cabinet member for safety and cohesion, said the fine was a paltry sum for the cost of a young life.

He said: “It does not seem to reflect the loss that the family have suffered. Most people would not consider that a fair reflection.”

Thomas’s grieving parents set up a Just Giving page to donate money to London Air Ambulance in gratitude for what the service had done for their son.

A spokeswoman from RoadPeace, the national charity for road crash victims, said: “RoadPeace trusts that this will be one of the last cases where a driver who has killed is prosecuted for a charge that does not even mention that someone has died.

“For over fifteen years, we campaigned against this insult to the dead.

“We welcome the decision to take this driver off the road. Disqualifications were not automatic under ‘careless driving’ but will be so with the new causing death by careless driving charge.”

A close family member said that the Hussells did not want to seek any publicity over Khan’s sentence and just wanted to try and get on with their lives and put the tragedy behind them.

The owner of the nursery school, Vince Lethbridge, said that Abbeywood was planning a tribute for the little boy on the anniversary of his death.

He said: “No matter what the sentence is, it’s not going to make any difference.

“It will not bring him back. Our thoughts and prayers are with the family.”

• If you want to donate money in Thomas’s memory, you can do so at justgiving.com/thomashussell