Dmytro Matviyenko in Maroochydore court for damaging police car, drunk crash

A drunk man who fell asleep at the wheel and crashed on a major Sunshine Coast motorway kicked out a police car window during a lively arrest. Read what it cost him.

A Highworth man has avoided jail after he crashed his partner’s car on the Sunshine Motorway while drunk and then damaged a police car.

Dmytro Vitalovich Matviyenko, 31, a Ukranian immigrant now living on the Sunshine Coast, was given 15 months’ prison suspended for two years and his licence was disqualified for two and a half years.

Police prosecutor Mick Ruddiman told the court police were called to a crash near the Coolum roundabout on the Sunshine Motorway on December 5, 2021.

When officers arrived they saw a white Ford station wagon off to the side of the road and Matviyenko was asleep behind the wheel.

Ambulance officers attended and it was revealed he was affected by alcohol and later blew a reading of 0.102.

Police also found a case of scalpels inside the car that were seized.

Sergeant Ruddiman said Matviyenko was a repeat unlicensed driver which alongside the location of the crash on a major road aggravated his offending.

When Matviyenko was arrested he kicked the window of the police car causing it to pop out, the court heard.

“The police car was taken out of service due to his actions and he had to be transferred to another vehicle,” Sergeant Ruddiman said.

Dmytro Matviyenko in Maroochydore court.

Sergeant Ruddiman submitted that he serve actual imprisonment with a head sentence of 18 months.

Defence solicitor Michael Robinson said Matviyenko was born in the Ukraine and migrated to Australia at the age of nine to escape wartime violence.

“As a child he was exposed to substantial violence with people killed in front of him,” Mr Robinson said.

“He struggled to fit in at school in Australia due to the language difficulty.”

Mr Robinson said his client was diagnosed with PTSD and had been on various medication.

Matviyenko started doing marijuana at the age of 14 and developed a chronic methamphetamine habit which his partner helped him to overcome.

Mr Robinson said Matviyenko has gained work at an insulation firm and had entered an early plea of guilty to the charges.

On the night of the crash Mr Robinson said there had been a family altercation at home and Matviyenko jumped in his partner’s car which didn’t have an interlock installed, despite being required to have one.

“He’s a heavy drinker, coming from a country where violence and alcohol were prevalent in society,” Mr Robinson said.

The court heard the scalpels belonged to his partner who works as a wildlife carer.

Matviyenko pleaded guilty to wilful damage, possession of a knife, obstruct police, driving disqualified, driving without an interlock and driving over the middle alcohol limit.

Magistrate Raelene Ellis said his six-page criminal history and six-page traffic history were “deplorable”.

She recorded convictions against Matviyenko.