Woman downed photographs in pub earlier than smashing her Fiat 500 head-on into automotive at 63mph

Gabrielle Dures, 24, was the driver of an Audi A1 that crashed into a Fiat 500 on Coastal Drive, in New Brighton, causing serious injuries to occupants of both wrecked vehicles

A drink driver smashed her Audi into another vehicle at double the speed limit, causing life-altering injuries to a woman and injuring several others. A court was today told that Gabrielle Dures, 24, was behind the wheel of an Audi A1 that collided with a Fiat 500 on Coastal Drive, New Brighton, on the evening of Sunday, May 28, 2023.

Dures, who had been consuming shots, sped along while her terrified passengers pleaded with her to slow down. She disregarded their appeals and crashed into the Fiat at 63mph, inflicting severe injuries on occupants of both destroyed cars.

Sentencing Dures, now a trainee pharmacist, Judge David Potter stated at Liverpool Crown Court that whether she wanted to impress her new friends in the back of her car “did not matter”, but what did matter was her frightened passengers urging her to slow down.

Her defence lawyer John Weate informed the court that Dures, then 22, had only been discharged by her hospital consultant three weeks prior after seven years of radiotherapy for a rare brain tumour and had been advised “to go out and enjoy her life and that is what she intended to do”.

He added: “She had had a restricted social life until that point. She went out to make new friends. She wanted to socialise and wanted to move on with her life.”

The court heard she had been drinking at The Lighthouse pub in Wallasey on the night of the crash with her friend Megan Findlay. They and three new friends decided to head to the James Atherton pub in New Brighton, reports the Liverpool Echo.

CCTV footage caught the woman leaving a pub at 9.30pm, tossing her empty glass away before jumping into her grey Audi A1 with mates in tow. Prosecutor Holly Menary described the harrowing scene, saying: “She assured them she was fine to drive and would drive them to the next bar. Ms Findlay asked if she was okay and she assured her she was and Ms Garrity suggested getting a taxi. But she repeated she was okay.”

The video then shows the car zipping towards the exit, prompting Ms Ford to exclaim “whoa”.

The driver, Dures, then sped right towards Coastal Drive. Ms Ford and Ms Garrity hadn’t buckled up but as fear kicked in, Ms Ford managed to strap in while Ms Garrity couldn’t do so in time.

Then came the horror as a Fiat coming the other way passed a parked camper van, Dures’ Audi crashed into it head-on in a fatal smash. The street had a 30mph limit; Fiat driver Kiera Ord thought she was fine to pass as the Audi seemed far off, but as it rapidly closed distance, even her frantic braking wasn’t enough to prevent the tragic smash.

Bystanders, including Joseph Thurlow, rushed to assist, with Judge David Potter acknowledging Thurlow’s quick first aid as crucial in preventing Ms Garrity from bleeding out. Police arrived on the scene within five minutes and found Dures slurring her speech and with glazed eyes.

She denied drinking but expressed worry for the occupants of both vehicles. She was taken to hospital where a blood test showed she was nearly one and a half times over the drink-driving limit with 114 micrograms of alcohol per 100 millilitres of blood, the legal limit being 80mg.

Judge Potter jailed Dures, of Kirkway, in Upton, for two years and eight months and banned her from the road for 31 months. Passing sentence he told her: “I have no doubt you feel remorse, shame and guilty for your actions. You have not sought to blame anyone else for the terrible decision you, and you alone, made that night.”

In an earlier appearance at the magistrates court, she had pleaded guilty to driving with excess alcohol leading to a £253 fine along with £221 towards costs and surcharge.

Additionally, she received a 14-month driving ban which is due to expire next week.

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