“But when we got there we noticed the crack in the car windscreen – that was the first bit of panic. Then the other parents came running out the house.

“My partner, Jay’s dad David, got out of the car saying ‘where’s Jay?’ They pointed to the house and he went inside and I heard him shouting ‘what happened?’ and they pointed to the car jack, which had blood on it.

“David came out carrying Jay, who was covered in blood and all limp. He just looked dead.”

Jay spent two nights in hospital and suffered bruising to his head and defence wounds on his arms.

Within hours, the doctors at Arrowe Park Hospital, Merseyside, were confident that Jay would survive but it was much longer before they could confirm he would suffer no lasting brain damage.

He later suffered nightmares and bed wetting for months afterwards and was terrified to go anywhere on his own, or near windows because it reminded him of being in the car.

His mother said: “Until all the swelling went down and the bruises went away, it was as if I didn’t believe he was going to make it.”

She added: “This has been a long and hard-fought process, we have been knocked back twice by the Criminal Injuries Compensation Authority (CICA) because in my opinion they didn’t take my son’s case seriously.

“It was a vicious attack which managed to crack the car windscreen.”

Michelle Armstrong, of Kirwans, added: “Although the CICA rejected the case twice, questioning whether the actions of a three-year-old perpetrator could constitute a ‘crime of violence’, we argued that the age of the perpetrator was irrelevant when claiming compensation from the CICA. And it was on this point that we won.

“The next step will be to present evidence of the injuries.