A DEVOUT Christian couple overnight forgave the drug-addled mother who killed their young son in a high speed crash in southwest England before going on the run for ten days.

Hannah Saaf, 28, a mother of twins, mounted the sidewalk at 61mph and plowed into 11-year-old Sam Riddall as he walked home from a church youth group in May.

She left the youngster trapped and dying under her car and fled the scene in Bristol, England.

Saaf - who had lost her driving license three months earlier - had been up all night smoking cannabis and was still stoned.

A judge overnight ordered her to be detained indefinitely in a hospital after hearing how she had suffered mental health problems since 2003.

She has bipolar disorder and was admitted to mental health institutions four times in the year before the tragic accident in May.

Outside court Sam's parents Martin, 45, and Rachel, 39, who have three other sons, said: "In four days we will celebrate Christmas for the first time without Sam.

"It's going to be very hard for us indeed because we still miss him very much.

"At Christmas we remember God sending Jesus into the world to bring peace. It's this same God who is giving us strength to forgive Hannah for the terrible thing she has done to us by killing our son.

"It's not easy, it's not going to be easy but with God's help we know it can be done."

Saaf admitted causing death by dangerous driving, failing to stop or report an accident and driving without a valid licence and insurance.

you're a good man amadd

To err is human, to forgive divine .........

I think forgiveness, however unpopular it may be, allows one to get over their suffering quicker. I don't think it makes things easier necessarily. Its like saying, "Granted, we have lost our son, we can a) hold a grudge towards this lady which doesn't bring our son back and only makes us more miserable or b) we can try to accept as best as we can what has happened and get on with our lives.

We can't move on less we forgive. Forgiveness doesn't mean we let people of the hook. To me it means the desire to let go of unnecessary negative emotion and getting on with life.

We don't have to forgive, we can stay angry and resentful as long as we want. Till we don't want to. You don't have to be Christian to benefit from forgiveness. But it helps to have some sense of spirituality I'm sure.

Ps. It's ### harder to forgive, and it makes you a real man. I don't know where we got this notion that ruthless opiniated anger makes a real man...? However I'm still working at the forgiveness business.