Lauren Malt murder: father has minimum sentence increased

The Court of Appeal has ruled that Nigel Malt's original sentence of life imprisonment with a minimum term of 18 years had been unduly lenient. 

The 45-year-old knocked over 19-year-old Lauren Malt outside the home she shared with her mother and siblings at Leete Way in West Winch, near King’s Lynn, on January 23.

Lauren Malt suffered multiple fatal injuries after being run over by her father Nigel (Image: Family photo)

He was convicted of murder after a trial that heard he had reversed his Mercedes into her then driven forward over her body after she tried to protect her boyfriend, Arthur Marnell, who he had threatened with a crowbar.

Passing an original sentence Judge Anthony Bate told Norwich Crown Crown that Malt had used his car as a “lethal weapon in an alcohol-fuelled rage in a residential street”.

The case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the Attorney General who argued the minimum term was too low.

Prosecutor Alison Morgan KC told a hearing on Thursday that the murder had been the culmination of a history of coercive and controlling behaviour.

The Mercedes C200 car used by Nigel Malt to run over his daughter (Image: Norfolk Constabulary)

Malt, of Lynn Road in King’s Lynn, was estranged from his wife - Lauren’s mother Karen - and children but “persistently” breached bail conditions not to turn up at their home or his wife's workplace.

At the time of the murder he was on bail awaiting trial accused of assaulting his wife in March and April 2021.

“The rage that was evident on January 23, expressed initially against Arthur Marnell, then quite deliberately expressed towards his own daughter is a product of that controlling dynamic,” she said.

Allison Summers KC, representing Malt, said the murder had not been premeditated and had been a spontaneous “almost unfathomable” act.

She said he had taken “responsibility for what he had done” and shown remorse.

Malt ran over his daughter outside the home where she lived with her mother and younger siblings at Leete Way in West Winch (Image: Newsquest) 

Malt, who attended the hearing via video link from HMP Norwich, broke down in tears at several points during the hearing.

A panel of three judges ruled that significant upwards adjustments to reflect aggravating factors, including the history of coercive and controlling behaviour, had been insufficient meaning the original minimum sentence has been unduly lenient. 

Lord Justice Stuart-Smith said: “We accept that the use of the car as a weapon is a serious aggregating feature as is the fact that the offender deliberately reserved at high speed.”