A young woman who was badly injured when her drunken friend crashed his car into a wall has revealed the “horrific” toll that the ordeal has taken on her life. The 22-year-old woman was a passenger in the Audi A3 when they went out for several drives in the early hours of the morning after a heavy vodka-drinking binge.
The reckless trips in Hull ended in disaster when the driver crashed his car head-on into a brick wall, causing devastating injuries to the young woman. She woke up in hospital after the crash to be told by nurses what had happened to her, Hull Crown Court heard.
Daniel Malpass, 23, of Great Barn Street, Bridlington, but recently in custody on remand, admitted causing serious injury to the woman by dangerous driving on August 30 last year. He also admitted dangerous driving during an earlier incident.
The woman, now 23, was taken to Hull Royal Infirmary with serious injuries. She was there for about a week and suffered multiple complex fractures of her left arm, which needed metal plates.
She also suffered fractures to her heel and ankle. She needed follow-up surgery and had 50 appointments. It was later found, after seven weeks, that she had fractured ribs.
The woman said in a statement, read by the prosecution, that her recovery from surgery had been “awful and really bad” and there had been complications, needing further surgery. She had suffered a “significant amount of pain” and could not move her fingers for two months.
The woman was “in and out of hospital” 50 times. She could not leave the house at one point because her family was out of the country for a time and nobody could look after her.
She could not even wash her hair. “I have found having to reach out for help so humiliating,” she said. The injuries had a life-changing effect on her appearance and she had limited use of her left hand.
“Day to day, I can’t really use it,” she said. Her lips were permanently scarred. She told the court herself: “I have spent the last year in and out of hospital.”
Her arm and hand would never be the same again. “My physical appearance as a result of what happened is something that bothers me the most,” she said. She had to stand in front of the mirror and see this.
Her injuries to her ankle might mean that she could suffer from arthritis in the future. She needed drugs to manage the pain but was frightened to take it.
“My injuries feel embarrassing to me,” said the woman. She felt humiliated every time that she left the house. People looked at her all the time and some approached her in the street to ask how it happened. It was the lowest that she had felt in her life and she questioned how she would be able to move on.
“My hand is permanently stuck in a claw-like state,” she said. “I feel like my left arm and hand have effectively become useless to me.”
The mental impact had been “horrific” and every time she looked at her hand and arm, it reminded her of what happened. “I will live with what happened to me for the rest of my life,” she said.
She initially returned to work for a time but could not continue because her management was “not particularly accommodating” over her hospital appointments, the court heard. She was signed off work in March this year.
Ben Hammersley, prosecuting, said that Malpass contacted the woman to ask if he could come round to her home in Hull for a drinking session, as they had done in the past. She declined and returned home after finishing work at 10pm.
Malpass turned up and she invited him in. They started drinking and had the equivalent of two bottles of vodka. Both were drunk. Despite their drunken state, at 1.30am, they went for a seven-mile drive to the Humber Bridge in his black Audi A3 before returning to the woman’s home.
They went out for a second time and took vodka with them. Malpass drove erratically and was texting. They bought another bottle of vodka from a store on Anlaby Road and returned to her home.
At 5am, they went out in the car again but it crashed into another vehicle in the Sefton Street area. The woman was said by the other driver – and later by Malpass – to be sitting on his knee, although she denied this.
The other driver and a woman with him were not hurt but damage was caused to their car. Malpass got out, smelling strongly of alcohol and he was unsteady on his feet.
He drove away and that was the last memory of the incident that his passenger had. The woman woke up in hospital to be told by nurses what had happened.
Malpass had crashed the car head-on into a wall in a no-through-road in West Dock Avenue. He got out of the car and tried to flee, leaving the woman in the car.
A member of the public called 999 at 5.14am. Malpass eventually did so himself just before 6am. He pretended that he was a rear seat passenger and said that the car’s speed at the time was about 50mph.
He did not mention the woman. She was removed by paramedics. There was an “overwhelming smell of alcohol” and both seat belts had not been worn. The windscreen was damaged.
The woman had lacerations to the top of her head. Police found Malpass, who had blood running from his nose. He was crying out in pain. “He smelled strongly of alcohol,” said Mr Hammersley.
His eyes were glazed and he was slurring his words. A blood test five-and-a-half hours later gave an alcohol reading under the legal limit.
Malpass made no comment to all questions during police interview. He had convictions for four previous offences, including assault causing actual bodily harm in 2019, two offences of assaulting an emergency worker and another of threatening behaviour in 2024.
Jazmine Lee, mitigating, said that Malpass had to bear responsibility for the impact of his dangerous driving on a friend that he had known for six or seven years. They had both shown “appalling” behaviour by willingly drinking alcohol and getting in the car.
“He has to live with the impact that this has had on her,” said Miss Lee. “This has had an impact on him. He has found himself in custody and he has lost a long-term friend. Alcohol and his defendant aren’t a good mix.
“He is remorseful for this incident. He has apologised for this incident and for his role in it.”
Malpass had originally been on bail but he failed to attend an earlier hearing and a warrant without bail was issued for his arrest, leading to him being remanded in custody. “This young defendant has been putting his head in the sand,” said Miss Lee.
Recorder Richard Thyne KC said: “This was a deliberate decision to ignore the rules of the road. It was prolonged, persistent and deliberate. “Your driving was highly impaired by the use of alcohol. You were driving at times significantly in excess of the speed limit.”
Malpass was jailed for three years. He was banned from driving for three-and-a-half years and he must pass an extended retest before he can drive legally again.
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