Driver who killed partner in crash has sentenced increased by Court of Appeal

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A “heartless and callous” driver who killed his partner and seriously injured two other passengers after drinking alcohol and taking nitrous oxide has had his sentence increased by the Court of Appeal.

Connor Malpass, 25, admitted causing the death of Natasha Woroch and causing serious injury to his friend, Thomas Colcombe, and his partner, Imogen Rowlands, and was sentenced to 10 years and six months’ imprisonment at Grimsby Crown Court in August.

Malpass reached speeds of 84mph in a 30mph zone in Belton, North Lincolnshire, moments before he crashed into a wall and lamppost, which caused Ms Woroch and Mr Colcombe to be ejected from the car in July 2023.

After leaving the vehicle, Malpass attempted to hide a bag with vodka and nitrous oxide canisters inside it, and locate a Rolex watch he had given Ms Woroch as a present as she lay on the ground “showing no signs of life”, a judge said.

The solicitor general referred Malpass’s sentence to the Court of Appeal, arguing it was “unduly lenient”.

On Wednesday, three judges in London increased Malpass’s sentence to 13 years and six months’ imprisonment.

Lord Justice William Davis, sitting with Mr Justice Murray and Judge Shaun Smith KC, said Malpass had “acted in a heartless and callous manner – apparently more interested in recovering a valuable watch” as opposed to the welfare of his partner.

The judge added that days before he was sentenced, Malpass got back behind the wheel of a car despite being the subject of an interim disqualification.

Peter Ratliff, for the solicitor general, said in written submissions that Malpass had driven the group between North Lincolnshire and Sheffield and had consumed alcohol and nitrous oxide, and was inhaling the substance at the time of the crash.

Malpass was “repeatedly warned by his passengers to slow down” during the trip “but refused to do so” and drove at 93mph on a rural road with a 40mph speed limit and at 84mph in a 30mph zone.

Mr Ratliff claimed that Malpass drove at “grossly excessive speeds and in an erratic manner” and that Mr Colcombe recalled Malpass “was driving as if he was on a race track” before the collision.

The court was told that Malpass had deactivated a safety feature in the car “where (if) the system detects a wheel slip the brakes are automatically applied”.

After the crash, he was seen “spending the remaining time before police arrived searching Natasha Woroch and the immediate scene”, Mr Ratliff said.

He added: “At one point, he kicked Natasha Woroch’s body to check under her right leg, and repeatedly stepped over her body as he continued to search.

“As he was to tell the police later, he was looking for a watch that he had purchased for her.

“The watch, a rose-gold-coloured Rolex, was later found on grass near the scene of the collision.”

The court heard Ms Woroch’s cause of death was likely due to a traumatic head injury and Ms Rowland suffered a deep laceration to her thigh, two superficial lacerations to her left abdomen and a fracture to her left elbow.

Mr Colcombe sustained injuries including a fractured sternum, wound to his left forearm and a bruise to his left eye.

Lewis Power KC, representing Malpass, said he accepted this was a “most dreadful and distressing case” but the sentence was “not unduly lenient”.

He told the court that since Malpass’s time in prison, reports said he was “immature” but “now having been incarcerated he accepts being remorseful and express prison is a salutary lesson for decisions he has made”.

In increasing the sentence, Lord Justice William Davis described the “harrowing effect” the incident had on Ms Woroch’s mother, who has “daily reminders of how her daughter died because, given where she lives, she has to drive past the scene of the collision on a regular basis”.

He said Ms Woroch’s mother felt Malpass was “torturing her” as he went on holiday after his sentencing hearing was postponed in July.

The judge added: “There was a well-established tendency in the weeks leading up to the collision for him to drive dangerously.

“On two occasions before the incident, he drove in a manner similar to that fatal collision.”