A SERIAL offender lied to police officers about the whereabouts of his car because he was “tired of being picked on”.

Officers arrived at Matthew Rosser’s property in Albert Road, Brightlingsea, after they spotted him driving his silver BMW dangerously on the A120 Harwich-bound on April 16, 2019.

Chelmsford Crown Court heard Rosser reported his vehicle stolen, despite having dropped it off at a nearby garage for repairs.

Mitigating counsel told the court the 49-year-old was fed-up of run-ins with police who he felt were picking on him, and so Rosser decided he did not want to co-operate with them.

However, when officers finally arrested him on May 2, 2019, they found 1.3g of cocaine in his possession.

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A saga of offences then ensued as officers continued to investigate Rosser’s behaviour culminating in him ramming a police car out the way, damaging its bumper and puncturing a front tyre.

He then sped off from Brightlingsea Community Centre, in Lower Park Road, at a reckless 50mph speed in an attempt to lose the encircling officers.

When caught and arrested, a further amount of cocaine was found in his vehicle – to the quantity of 5.3g – as well as a small wrap of cannabis.

The 49-year-old, who has 31 previous convictions for 116 offences, told the court he accepts what he did was “stupid”, saying “I was just tired of being picked on all the time by police”.

Judge Patricia Lynch QC said there is no excuse for his “childish” blaming of the police and stating his attitude doesn’t gain her sympathy.

She said: “Your behaviour was classic – you took your car to get repaired after reporting it missing.

“You need to have a good look in the mirror and start behaving like an adult.”

Rosser admitted two counts of dangerous driving, two counts of possessing a Class A drug and single counts of perverting the course of justice and possessing a Class B drug.

Sentencing him to one year and five months in prison, suspended for two years, Ms Lynch added: “It was a ridiculous, dishonest offence… it was frankly ridiculous.”