91�ȱ�

A speeding driver who had been drinking and taking nitrous oxide before a fatal crash in which his partner died has had his sentence increased by the Court of Appeal.

Connor Malpass, 25, from Doncaster, was jailed in August for 10 years and six months after admitting causing the death of Natasha Woroch and seriously injuring two other passengers.

Grimsby Crown Court had heard that Malpass was driving at speeds of over 80mph (129km/h) in a 30mph (48km/h) zone before the crash on the A161 at Belton, North Lincolnshire, in July 2023.

After a referral by the solicitor general, who argued the sentence was "unduly lenient", three judges on Wednesday increased his sentence to 13 years and six months.

'Excessive speeds'

The Court of Appeal in London heard that before the crash, in which passenger Thomas Colcombe and his partner Imogen Rowlands were also seriously injured, Malpass had deactivated a car safety feature which, if a wheel slip was detected, automatically applied the brakes.

Peter Ratliff, for the solicitor general, said in written submissions that Malpass drove at "grossly excessive speeds and in an erratic manner".

Mr Ratliff wrote that after the crash, Malpass had been seen "spending the remaining time before police arrived searching Natasha Woroch and the immediate scene".

He added: "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."

Lord Justice William Davis, sitting in the Court of Appeal with Mr Justice Murray and Judge Shaun Smith KC, said after the crash, Malpass had "acted in a heartless and callous manner - apparently more interested in recovering a valuable watch" rather than the welfare of his partner.

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

Lewis Power KC, representing Malpass, said he accepted the case was "most dreadful and distressing", 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 Malpass's sentence, Lord Justice Davis described the "harrowing effect" of the fatal crash on Ms Woroch's mother.

He said she had "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".

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."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on 91�ȱ� Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.