Car accident victim slams Shepparton hoon Matthew Sorbello for destroying life
A Shepparton drug-addicted hoon has left a man unable to work and crippled “emotionally, physically and financially” after clipping his car while overtaking on the Midland Highway. But the crash has failed to stop him from speed and stealing.
Goulburn Valley
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A driver has told the court he’s a “shell of my former self” after a serial Shepparton hoon clipped his car on the Causeway, sending it spinning into the bush and leaving him with broken bones.
Matthew Sorbello, 32, pleaded guilty to drugs, driving and theft charges at the Shepparton Magistrates’ Court last week, appearing via video link, his head hanging down as two victim impact statements were read about the terrifying accident on January 15.
Sorbello was driving his friend’s ute behind the victim’s sedan while changing lanes erratically about 7:30pm on the Midland Hwy towards Mooroopna, when he overtook the victim and clipped the front of his car.
The sedan then veered off the road into the trees, where it spun and landed in the embankment.
The driver said while the accident broke his ribs and a finger, the experience had taken away his life – he has been forced to stop working and could not get behind the wheel.
“(The accident) has crippled me emotionally, physically and financially,” the court heard.
“At the moment, I can’t think straight for more than one task per day.
“I … feel like my life as I know it is now gone.”
His passenger also described having recurrent nightmares since the crash.
“Seconds before the car rolled, I could see my life flash before my eyes,” he said.
Meanwhile, Sorbello ditched the scene and later rang a friend to tell him he caused an accident, telling him: “I don’t want to go back to jail.”
But in the months afterwards, Sorbello is caught dangerous driving, stealing, and selling meth.
He drove an SUV into a tree on January 23 with drugs coursing through his system on Dawson Rd in Arcadia, and in April, he was caught speeding up the Goulburn Valley Highway in Kialla at 100km/h in a 60 zone.
On February 6 he shoved light-globes down his pants and walked out of Super Cheap Auto without paying for them, and stole a Nena and Pasadena T-shirt from a Yarrawonga store.
And after being bailed twice for stealing and being found with drugs, a search of a Shepparton home found $3700 in cash, upwards of 6.5g of meth across multiple containers and text message proof Sorbello was selling it.
Police say when Sorbello was asked about the drugs, he said he had nothing to do with them and said the money was from Centrelink.
But his lawyer said Mr Sorbello had “come a long way” in a decade-long drug addiction battle, which involved a stint behind bars and then in rehab.
“As is often the case with rehab – it’s two steps forward and one step backward,” he said.
He said his client struggled to move back into the community, and said it was the hardest step to take.
“My client stumbled at that step.”
Sorbello’s lawyer said his client was motivated to change his life for his four-year-old twin boys, who were in his care before he was remanded 85 days ago.
Magistrate David Faram grated the request for a pre-sentence report, and Sorbello will appear in court on October 22 following its preparation.
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