‘I hope you rot in jail’: Grieving mother’s message to ‘remorseless’ paedophile who mowed down her two-year-old son as he played on the street
- Michael Bullock dragged Zayne Colson underneath his car thinking it was a ball
- The two-year-old victim was playing with his sisters outside their Adelaide home
- Bullock, 55, immediately left the scene and returned to his nearby home
- A District Court jury found Bullock guilty over the hit-run death in February
- He was sentenced in 2004 to nine years in jail for raping a six-year-old child
The mother of a two-year-old boy run down and killed by a convicted pedophile says her son’s killer has shown no remorse and should ‘rot in jail’.
Michael Craig Bullock was found guilty by a District Court jury over the hit-run death of Zayne Colson at Dover Gardens in February 2017.
‘I wonder how someone could drive off and leave him, my baby, to die,’ Chantelle Young said in a victim impact statement read by prosecutors on Monday.
‘This is a life sentence for my kids and I.’
Zayne Colson (pictured) was playing with his sisters outside their home in Adelaide’s Dover Gardens in 2017 when was hit and dragged underneath a car for a few metres
Ms Young said Zayne’s death has had an ‘extreme’ impact on her and her six surviving children.
‘He didn’t deserve to die like that,’ she said.
‘You killed a two-year-old defenceless little boy, my baby Zayne, and you acted like his life didn’t matter.
‘And for this, I hope you rot in jail.’
During the trial, the court heard Zayne was outside his house playing with his sisters when he was hit and dragged underneath a car for a few metres.
Prosecutor Rebecca Gray said Michael Craig Bullock immediately left the scene (pictured) and returned to his nearby home, where his wife contacted emergency services. He was found guilty by a District Court jury in February
Prosecutor Rebecca Gray said Bullock immediately left the scene and returned to his nearby home, where his wife contacted emergency services.
Bullock testified he was travelling about 35 km/h on the residential street when he swerved to miss one of Zayne’s sisters and felt something under his wheels but ‘just thought it was a ball’.
A jury found him guilty of one aggravated count of driving without due care and leaving the scene of an accident, but the 55-year-old is appealing the conviction.
Ms Gray said Bullock had not shown any remorse over Zayne’s death but defence counsel Angus Redford read to the court a letter of apology written by his client.
‘It is unimaginable to think about what you are going through every moment of every day,’ the letter said.
‘I know that your family will never accept my apology and for that I understand.
‘I am truly sorry for your loss.’
Bullock (centre) was in 2004 sentenced to nine years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to crimes including unlawful sexual intercourse with a six-year-old child.
Bullock was in 2004 sentenced to nine years behind bars after he pleaded guilty to crimes including unlawful sexual intercourse with a six-year-old child.
Since then, he has also spent time in jail for the indecent assault of a 16-year-old girl and two counts of possessing child pornography.
Judge Paul Cuthbertson remanded Bullock in custody for sentencing next month.