Drink Driver's Speeding Crash Leaves Woman with Life-Altering Injuries

Gabrielle Dures, a 24-year-old trainee pharmacist, was driving her Audi A1 on Coastal Drive in New Brighton when she collided head-on with a Fiat 500. The crash occurred on the evening of Sunday, May 28, 2023, and left several people with serious injuries.

Dures was driving at double the speed limit and had been consuming alcohol prior to the crash. Despite pleas from her passengers to slow down, she continued to speed and crashed into the Fiat at 63mph.

The crash caused severe injuries to the occupants of both vehicles. The most seriously injured was Stevie Garrity, who suffered a fractured arm, leg, and two spinal fractures. She has undergone four six-hour operations and faces two more.

Ria Islam, who was a passenger in the Fiat, suffered two broken bones in her back and body-wide pain. Megan Findlay, who was a passenger in Dures' car, sustained injuries to her left thigh. Student midwife Renee Hunt suffered a fractured spine and liver bleeding. Sophie Ford, another passenger in Dures' car, suffered a tender neck. Kiera Ord, the driver of the Fiat, fractured her right wrist.

Dures has pleaded guilty to four counts of causing serious injury by dangerous driving. She expressed her "deepest remorse" for the accident and the pain and suffering it has caused to the victims and their families.