The parents of a hit-and-run victim asked the driver responsible why he had left their son on the roadside “like a piece of rubbish” on Christmas Day.

Dray Yozaine Matthews hung his head low as he was sentenced today in the Blenheim District Court, to four years and 10 months in prison on a charge of wounding with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

The teenage victim whom he struck in his car and then reversed over was left with life-threatening injuries and he needed emergency surgery on his pelvis, which had bone exposed, and a broken femur and cuts to his torso.

Matthews, 23, had no history of violence and no prior criminal record. He had earlier been found guilty by a jury after denying the charge, described by the Crown as the result of “vigilante offending”.

Matthews had snapped on Christmas night of 2020. He was at home with his partner in Blenheim when the victim walked past the house.

A man has been sentenced to almost five years in prison in the Blenheim District Court after he ran over a teenager and left him by the roadside. Photo / Tracy Neal

The court heard how the victim, aged 17 at the time, had been damaging vehicles in Blenheim after drinking alcohol. Matthews heard a “smashing sound” outside, looked out the window, and saw the teen walking past holding an iron bar.

Judge Jo Rielly said it wasn’t entirely clear when Matthews made the decision to go and look for him but he took the keys to his partner’s car.

The evidence given at trial, at which Matthews represented himself, was that after he pulled out of the driveway, he accelerated as he began looking for the victim.

Judge Rielly said Matthews had said he was “looking to assist him” but the evidence was clear that he “deliberately steered his vehicle across the road at the victim and increased his speed”.

Matthews was travelling at 50 kilometres per hour when he struck the victim, knocking him to the ground, before reversing off him.

“He was in a life-threatened state at the time you drove off him and drove away. You did not pause for a moment.”

Crown prosecutor Jeremy Cameron said Matthews had “taken the law into his own hands” and had told his partner afterwards: “I got him”.

He said until then, Matthews had a clean record, had undertaken further education, held down a good job, was in a relationship, and by all accounts was a “well-adjusted, polite young man”.

Judge Rielly said for the victim’s parents the most significant aspect was that Matthews had left him there.

The victim’s mother asked while staring at Matthews in court: “How could someone hit my son and leave him like a piece of rubbish?”

“All I wanted to do was hurt this gutless person.”

She said that before Christmas the family had gone through some “ups and downs” and that her son had moved to another address, but she had remained in close contact with him.

She had been woken by a knock on the door to find two police officers, who told her that her son had been in a car accident.

“I was angry and confused and thought that if I opened my eyes it would just be a bad dream.”

When she learned he’d been the victim of a hit-and-run, her mind “raged with anger” at the thought anyone could do that.

“I saw him in so much pain. The way I saw him broke me. One of the hardest things I heard him say was, ‘I thought I was going to die’.

“No matter how old he gets, he’s still my son, and being a mum, that never stops.”

The victim’s father said on the night it happened, he struggled to get answers from the police.

“I just wanted to know, ‘where is my boy and what is going on’.”

He too had been told his son had been in a car accident, and then learned he had been flown to Nelson Hospital after being involved in a hit-and-run.

He said it had left him feeling a failure, as a protector, as a man and as a father.

“My son will bear the scars for the rest of his life but he is back on his legs and I’m so proud of where he is now.”

Mathews’ lawyer Marcus Zintl said the ripples of his offending had been far-reaching, including that he had lost his job as a merchandiser, which he was good at and where he was well-regarded.

He asked the judge to make allowance for the contents of two cultural reports, which highlighted a range of factors linked to the offending.

 “This is a very sad case as we have such spontaneous and out-of-character offending which has had severe and significant consequences for the victim and family.

“He genuinely accepts responsibility.”

Judge Rielly said that was questionable when he pleaded not guilty, had gone to a trial and said it was an accident.

Zintl responded that at the time Matthews had been aged 21, he panicked and then tried to escape liability.

Judge Rielly said in sentencing him that it was only later, having woven a string of lies in the days following, that Matthews acknowledged he’d been involved after a police investigation.

“You denied right through the trial your actions were intentional and then today, I received letters that are beautifully written, expressing remorse, but you’re entirely silent on your intent.”

Judge Rielly said she struggled to make sense of what he’d done but the rationale seemed to be that he had wanted to punish the victim for the wrongdoing Matthews considered the victim had been committing.

However, she did accept he regretted what had happened, and that he was likely struggling to come to terms with the fact he had done it, and didn’t want to acknowledge it was intentional.

She said Matthews’ actions had involved extreme violence, and use of a weapon, and that he had driven over someone, reversed, and then not stopped to check.

From a starting point of six years in prison, Matthews was given a 20 per cent credit for factors highlighted in reports that suggested he struggled with anger due to childhood traumas.

Judge Rielly said his release date would be determined by the Parole Board.

Tracy Neal is a Nelson-based Open Justice reporter at NZME. She was previously RNZ’s regional reporter in Nelson-Marlborough and has covered general news, including court and local government for the Nelson Mail.