Matthew Wood: St Georges Basin painter convicted of drink driving

A night on the beers and dope between mates ended fast after an argument, with one man hopping behind the wheel and speeding away. Shortly after, a routine RBT saw the night go from bad to worse.

Matthew Wood was charged with mid range drink driving and driving with illicit substance in oral fluid.

A painter’s night on the beers and dope with a mate has seen him slapped with a conviction, after he sped away drunk following an argument.

Police watched as a longneck beer bottle tumbled out of Matthew Wood’s car during a routine RBT stop, just after he informed the officers he hadn’t been drinking.

The incident saw the 43-year-old St Georges Basin man face Nowra Local Court on Tuesday, pleading guilty to mid-range drink driving and drive with illicit substance in oral fluid.

Police documents tendered to the court reveal the situation resulted from a fight with a mate during a night on the drinks.

Wood had visited his friend’s house on the evening of May 12, drinking beers and smoking cannabis.

Matthew Wood leaving Nowra Local Court.

However, not long into the friendly get together a heated argument erupted between the pair.

The court heard on Tuesday how this argument resulted in Wood “quickly drinking” a beer, before storming into his car and driving away.

Police pulled the intoxicated Wood over, only a mere “few metres” from his mate’s Nowra home after he sped away.

Agreed facts state the officers immediately smelt the “scent of liquor” on his breath before asking Wood if he had been drinking. “No,” he informed the police.

Officers performed a breath test, which returned a .100 reading, before opening the door to arrest the intoxicated painter.

Matthew Wood’s night on the drinks and cannabis saw him end up in Nowra Local Court.

However, as the door opened, the officers watched as an empty longneck beer bottle fell from the car.

“The bottle fell from the vehicle onto the roadway,” agreed facts state.

Wood was arrested and at the Bay and Basin Police Station, returned a positive detection for cannabis during an oral fluid test.

In Nowra Local Court on Tuesday, Wood’s lawyer Hannah Dreher said the painter needed his licence due to the travel involved in his work.

“St Georges Basin is quite an isolated suburb and public transport to jobs is really not an option because there essentially is none,” she said.

The court heard Wood’s licence was suspended on the spot when he was caught, resulting in him losing “a lot” of potential jobs between Nowra and Ulladulla.

However, Magistrate Lisa Viney said drink driving was an offence which could not go unpunished.

“Your reading is well into the mid range of drink driving,” she said. “And you had also tested positive to cannabis, which isn’t great. You have completed the traffic offenders program, so hopefully you can see the potential harm your actions could have brought.”

Wood was convicted, fined $1000, had his licence suspended for six months and ruled to have an interlock device installed in his car when he gets his licence back.