Dmitry Danilov: Pimpama fitter and turner guilty of appalling 9am DUI while on early morning beer run

A Gold Coast fitter and turner blew almost six times the legal limit three hours after he sideswiped two vehicles while on an early morning beer run, a court has heard.

Defence lawyer Jason Jacobson with Pimpama man Dmitry Danilov, 51, leaving Southport Magistrates Court on July 29, 2025. Picture: Alex Treacy

A Gold Coast fitter and turner blew almost six times the legal limit three hours after he sideswiped two vehicles while on an early morning beer run, a court has heard.

Pimpama man Dmitry Danilov, 51, appeared in Southport Magistrates Court on Tuesday, July 29, where he pleaded guilty to charges of high-range drink-driving and failing to remain at the scene of an accident.

Both offences occurred at Gainsborough Dr, Pimpama, on the morning of March 19 this year.

Police prosecutor Erin Garland told the court that at about 8.40am witnesses saw a black Jeep Grand Cherokee sideswipe two vehicles while travelling westbound.

They called police, but before officers arrived, a witness saw the Jeep return to the scene and followed it to an address in Pimpama, where police took up with the defendant just before 10.30am.

They noted the Jeep had extensive damage to its front left panels and the defendant was “unsteady on his feet, slurring, and smelt heavily of liquor,” Ms Garland said.

Danilov admitted driving and being involved in a crash, and told officers he had driven to Pimpama to pick up a carton of beer.

He initially claimed he had continued drinking after arriving home, which would render a breath test at that point unsound, but he confessed he lied after police found the carton of beer he purchased was unopened.

When he was finally tested at 11.24am, he returned a reading of 0.29 per cent blood-alcohol content, the court heard.

It was his second high-range DUI in the space of two years, with the court hearing he blew 0.271 per cent on that previous occasion, for which he was disqualified from driving for six months.

Defence lawyer Jason Jacobson with Pimpama man Dmitry Danilov, 51, leaving Southport Magistrates Court on July 29, 2025. Picture: Alex Treacy

“It appears he does have some issues with alcohol,” Ms Garland said.

Defence lawyer Jason Jacobson told the court his client, a father-of-one who worked as a fitter and turner at a Murarrie business, was grieving at the time of the latest drink drive as his father had died in Russia and he’d been unable to attend the funeral due to a medical condition that prevents air travel.

He said Danilov had been sober since the offence date and had completed a one-month residential inpatient program via rehabilitation service Lives Lived Well.

Mr Jacobson noted his client’s licence had been suspended since the offence date, some four months ago, and he had the additional punishment of his Jeep, worth some $15,000, being written off.

Magistrate Deborah Mitchell fined Danilov $500, placed him on probation for 12 months, and disqualified his licence for 12 months.

Originally published as Dmitry Danilov: Pimpama fitter and turner guilty of appalling 9am DUI while on early morning beer run