Man who lost job and girlfriend went on two-night tyre slashing rampage in West Cork

A Ukrainian man who was fired from his job and kicked out by his girlfriend sank into a drink-fuelled depression and slashed the tyres of multiple vehicles in a quiet West Cork village the district court has heard.

Clonakilty District Court was told that Oleksii Matviienko, 36 of no fixed abode and formerly of Timoleague, Co. Cork went on a destructive rampage in Timoleague on the night of July 28, 2025 and again on August 1, 2025. Court presenter Sergeant Tom Mulcahy said that Matviienko faced nine charges of criminal damage all relating to tyre slashing of eight cars and one motorcycle as well as two public order charges.

The court was told that Matviienko was originally from Ukraine where his parents still lived and where his brother was fighting in the war. 

He had moved to Ireland three-years-ago with his then partner and was living with her in Timoleague and had also secured work in a local factory.

Defence solicitor Myra Dinneen said that problems arose when Matviienko was fired from his job for repeated absences and at the same time his relationship with his girlfriend “fell apart” and she kicked him out of the house they shared effectively making him homeless. 

Ms Dinneen said that Matviienk became depressed and was drinking “very heavily” when the offending occurred.

She said that her client was pleading guilty and apologised for what he had done and was “very sorry.” 

She said that Matviienko had compensated some of the injured parties using his severance pay but now had “little or no means.”

SLASHED

The court was told that one of the vehicles targeted belonged to a former colleague of Mr Matviienko and had its tyres slashed on two occasions despite the fact that it was parked on a private driveway. The victim outlined her concerns for her safety to the court in a victim impact statement.

Judge Joanne Carroll said that a lot of people in Timoleague were “not very happy” with Matviienko and advised him to stay away from the village. 

She said his behaviour had inconvenienced a lot of citizens who woke in the mornings to find their tyres slashed. 

She said it was “a serious matter that has caused a lot of harm to the community.” 

She acknowledged that Matviienko had suffered trauma as a result of the situation in Ukraine but she said that did not give him the right to inflict trauma on others. 

Matviienko, who had already spent a month in custody awaiting his hearing, was sentenced to six months in prison, suspended for 18 months on one of the criminal damage charges. 

He was ordered to pay the outstanding damages of €1,535.89, to attend alcohol counselling, to seek training or employment and to stay at least 9km away from Timoleague. 

He was also ordered to have no contact with thew named injured party who made the victim impact statement. 

On one other criminal damage charge he was placed on a probation bond for 12 months. All of the other charges were taken into consideration.

• This article is funded by the Courts Reporting Scheme.