Drug driver jailed for 30 months after Walsall crash that seriously injured passenger

A 24-year-old woman was jailed for 30 months after pleading guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving when her car struck two other vehicles at a junction in Walsall, West Midlands.

Renaisse Monk was sentenced at Wolverhampton Crown Court last week after the early-hours collision on June 8 last year left one of her passengers seriously injured, police said. Monk abandoned the vehicle at the scene and was arrested on Walstead Road; officers later recovered two nitrous oxide canisters that witnesses said she had discarded beside a nearby wall.

West Midlands Police said Monk was driving a Volkswagen Polo behind a Toyota Corolla and a Nissan Qashqai at the traffic-light controlled junction of Birmingham Road, Walstead Road and Bell Road. As the Nissan and Toyota slowed to a stop, the force said the Polo collided with the rear offside of the Corolla, shunting it into the Nissan and leaving the Polo to continue into railings and a traffic light on the central island.

There were four passengers in Monk's vehicle; one man sustained serious injuries and occupants of the other two cars were not seriously hurt, police said. Blood tests taken while Monk was in custody detected cocaine and cannabis. Witnesses told officers she had retrieved nitrous oxide canisters from the vehicle and later discarded them; the canisters were recovered and admitted as evidence at trial.

Detective Sergeant Paul Hughes, of the Serious Collision Investigation Unit, described Monk's driving as "totally reckless," saying she had driven at speeds between 56mph and 64mph in a 30mph residential road while under the influence of drugs. "Drug driving and speeding are two of the major causes of collision on our roads and I need drivers to understand how the effects of drugs, both illegal and legal, can seriously impair your driving and decision-making ability," he said. "One man was left seriously injured by Monk's actions and I hope that this sentencing sends out a clear message that this type of driving is not acceptable on our roads and if you are reckless at the wheel you do face the prospect of time behind bars."

Monk, who describes herself as a "digital creator" on social media, was also ordered to be disqualified from driving for five years and three months and will be required to take an extended driving test when she is eligible. The court record shows she pleaded guilty to causing serious injury by dangerous driving.

The sentencing comes almost three years after Monk was herself struck by a car that hit a group of people on the patio of the Turks Head pub in Wednesbury. At the time she posted on Facebook that she could not "describe how grateful I am to have made it out alive." The driver responsible for that earlier attack, McBright Nyazuma, was convicted of causing grievous bodily harm with intent and attempting to cause grievous bodily harm with intent and was jailed for 12 years at Wolverhampton Crown Court in January 2022.

Police appeals and court statements in the latest case stressed the combined dangers of drug use and excessive speed on public roads. The prosecution said evidence from witnesses, recovered canisters and toxicology results were central to establishing that Monk was impaired when she drove, and the sentence reflected the serious injury caused to her passenger and the risk posed to other road users.