Foreign driver who allegedly crashed into Mediaworks journalist and horse denied passport

Karen Rutherford, pictured in November, still needs a crutch to walk after the accident, which killed the horse she was riding.

The foreign driver who allegedly injured journalist Karen Rutherford and killed her daughter's horse in a crash has appealed a decision not to return his passport.

But the decision to deny Peng Wang his passport so he could return to China to tend to issues in his business was upheld by the Auckland High Court this afternoon.

Last Friday, the 28-year-old appeared at the North Shore District Court seeking a variation of his bail conditions.

The application was declined by Judge Lawrence Hinton who deemed Wang a flight risk.

The Chinese national this afternoon appealed that decision but it was upheld by Justice Matthew Palmer.

Wang has denied a charge of careless driving causing injury relating to the crash in August.

Rutherford and her daughter Ella, 13, were riding on Postman Rd in Dairy Flat, nort of Auckland, when a car allegedly struck George, the horse she was on, throwing Rutherford into the windscreen.

The 43-year-old's leg catapulted into her head, the force of which tore the skin and tissue away from the muscle, almost ripping her leg off.

She also suffered multiple broken bones and gashes and still needs a crutch six months on.