This is three-year-old Thomas Boulton in his red devil costume, just minutes before he was left critically injured after being struck by a car as he walked home from a Halloween party.

The Alumwell Nursery pupil suffered serious head injuries after being in collision with a Volkswagen Golf in Darlaston Road, Pleck, in the early hours on Sunday.

He was taken to Walsall Manor Hospital then transferred to Birmingham Children’s Hospital in a critical condition, where he has lapsed in and out of consciousness since.

His mother Angela and father Chris, who live in Pleck, have kept a bedside vigil and his condition is described as ‘poorly but stable.’  Thomas’s picture was taken at a party at James Bridge Copper Working Men’s Club just 20 minutes before the accident.

Thomas’s mother Angela said today: “He is a very popular lad. He is well-loved, a bright spark and my baby.” 

Family friend Katie Rolston, aged 18, had suffered leg injuries in the accident which happened close to the junction with Reservoir Place. 

The driver of the car, a 23-year-old man who lives locally, was arrested in connection with the collision and has been bailed.