A WOMAN has appeared in court charged with perverting the course of justice during a police investigation into a hit and run in which a 10-year-old boy was badly injured after being struck by a car at Saltney.

Hannah Nicholson pleaded not guilty to the charge and she was bailed by Judge Merfyn Hughes QC pending her trial in the summer.

Nicholson, 28, of Henry Wood Court in Saltney, is alleged by the prosecution to be the owner of the car used by Keegan Doyle when it hit primary school pupil Alfie Watts, leaving him with serious injuries.

She appeared in the Mold Crown Court dock and pleaded not guilty to a charge that she did a series of acts with intent to pervert the course of justice on January 6.

The charge alleges that she made a statement to the police that her vehicle had been taken without consent that morning and that she had not seen Doyle, said to be a friend of hers, since the previous night.

The hearing was told Doyle, 23, of Warren Drive in Broughton, had been jailed for three years and eight months after he admitted causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

Judge Hughes fixed Nicholson's trial for July 8 and said it was expected to last up to two days.

She was released on bail in the meantime.

The schoolboy suffered life-changing injuries after he was in collision with a Ford Fiesta with Doyle at the wheel in Park Avenue, Saltney.