Thusha's parents pray she will walk again one day

The parents of six-year-old Thusha Kamaleswaran, who was left paralysed after being shot in Stockwell, say they are "all hoping that one day a miracle will happen" and their little girl will walk again.

They haven't told their daughter she is permanently paralysed and refuse to give up hope that she "will one day get up and walk out of the wheelchair".

Her father, Jeyakumar Ghanasekaram, told ITV News: "All we can to is pray to the God because we believe in God. We are doing everything that we can do to help her. We hope she will get up and walk. We have faith in God."

Thusha has just returned home to her family after a year in hospital and is keen to make up for lost time, saying she is looking forward to "school, doing my other dance and playing" and would love to be a doctor.

But her father said the incident has changed his daughter.

He said: "We know that Thusha has become very timid since the incident. She told us that she is very frightened. If she hears a loud noise outside she feels very scared. She is very concerned about her future. She is worried that she is confined to a wheelchair."

Last month three men were were convicted by an Old Bailey jury of causing her grievous bodily harm with intent.

The youngster was hit by a bullet when the trio opened fire into her aunt's south London shop in March last year - it hit her in the chest and passed through the seventh vertebra of her spine, leaving her wheelchair-bound for life.

Asked about how they felt about the three men who shattered their little girl's dream of becoming a dancer they said their main concern was that these men don't get released and put another family through the same ordeal.

Her father said: "We strongly feel that the culprits should be brought to justice, they should be punished.

"We say that because what happened to our daughter – it could happen to other children. Innocent people will get hurt. We shouldn’t encourage this.

"Tomorrow they may come out with a lesser sentence andstart doing it all over again. That is why we strongly feel they should be punished accordingly."