THE partner of a man who was in a car crash in which he suffered horrific injuries has spoken about the torment he is living "locked" inside himself.

Thirty-year-old Dean Andrews has been in hospital since the crash, on April 21 last year, in which he suffered severe head injuries, collapsed lungs, chest injuries and damage to his knees.

He is currently in Evesham Community hospital, where he is being cared for around-the-clock as he is unable to talk, dress or feed himself and has to be fed through a tube.

And Dean's partner Claire Tierney, aged 29, from Queen Elizabeth Drive in Pershore, described the trauma Dean, who has been described as in a "low awareness state" by doctors, has been through.

"He is locked inside himself now - he can't do anything for himself - he can't speak, swallow or eat," said Claire, who has a three-year-old son, Jacob, with Dean.

"It's awful what I have seen him go through really. I thought he would get better but he has reached a plateau where he has levelled off.

"He seems to understand little things and he seems to know who we are and he nods and shakes his head but he can't talk at all."

The crash happened after Katherine Dawkes overtook a lorry in her Land Rover on the A4538 between Warndon and Spetchley, near Worcester, colliding with a Ford Capri in which Dean was a front-seat passenger.

Twenty-six-year-old father-of-two Timothy Hill, of Cherry Orchard, Pershore, a passenger in the Capri, died instantly after being flung from the back seat of the car.

Peter Prosser, 27, of Hatfield Bank, Norton, the driver of the Capri, is still on crutches from leg injuries.

Dawkes, a doctor's wife, was cleared of causing death by dangerous driving by a jury at Worcester Crown Court on Friday but found guilty of careless driving.

Judge Michael Mott fined her £1,000 and banned her from driving for 12 months.

Speaking after the case, Claire spoke of her disgust at the sentence Dawkes received.

"I was absolutely devastated and appalled that justice wasn't carried out," she said

"In my eyes she really got away with it. She has devastated a lot of people's lives.

"It would have been nice for her to have got a prison sentence because Dean is locked inside himself now and she should feel what we are going through."

Timothy's widow Emma, 29, of Cherry Orchard, Pershore, and Timothy's parents Eric and Adrien, both 60, from Hatfield Lane, Norton spoke earlier of their devastation at the sentence passed.

Dean and Claire would have celebrated their seventh anniversary together yesterday. They met at the age of 15 when they were both pupils at Pershore High School.

It wasn't until six years later that they met again in Welland that they started seeing each other.

"He is a beautiful person, very happy, outgoing and very friendly," said Claire.

"He would do anything for anybody."