A 33-year-old motorcyclist who knocked down a Primary 4 student just outside her school was on Tuesday fined $5,000 and banned from driving for three years.

Muhammad Nazri Rubai failed to keep a proper lookout while approaching the school zone of the school in the north on Feb 20. He knocked the nine-year-old girl down as she was crossing the road and dragged her for a distance, before his motorcycle came to a stop.

The girl suffered serious injuries such as broken legs and a lacerated liver. She went into a coma for 17 days, and was hospitalised for almost two months.

Handing down the punishment on Tuesday, District Judge Chay Yuen Fatt said that the $5,000 penalty was justified considering the facts, and factors against Muhammad Nazri.

He noted Muhammad Nazri's acts had not been culpable enough to warrant a jail term, adding also that the man had pleaded guilty at an early stage and had a completely clean record prior to the offence.

For causing grievous hurt by doing a negligent act to endanger life, the maximum penalty is two years' jail and a $5,000 fine.