A CRIMINAL with a $500-a-day ice habit has been jailed after a string of offences, including stealing from his colleagues, swerving a car at police officers and police pursuits.
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Magistrate Peter Mithen said Scott Matthew Coleman’s offences were “ruthless” and that “safety was just out of the window”.
He turned the lights off vehicles and drove on the wrong side of the road during several pursuits in both Wodonga and Albury.
Despite being just 22, Coleman has an extensive criminal history on both sides of the border.
He was sentenced to 14 months in jail in the Wodonga Magistrates Court on Tuesday after being arrested two weeks ago, and must face NSW court.
In one of the most serious incidents during his spree, the 22-year-old swerved a hatchback with stolen plates at two Wodonga officers on the Lincoln Causeway on April 16, causing one to jump to safety.
Highway Patrol officers chased after the vehicle as it speed towards High Street at 140km/h with the headlights switched off.
The plates had been stolen from a car in Wodonga.
Coleman also stole a bucket of number plates from Brooks Motors in Melbourne Road between August last year and March.
He was also involved in a ram raid at Kyabram involving a Holden Colorado stolen from a Wodonga man, which was used by other offenders in a ram raid on the Thurgoona Golf Club three days later.
Coleman also stole phones and cash from co-workers at the Wodonga Abattoir and was convicted of a string of other serious offences.
Magistrate Peter Mithen said he hoped the 22-year-old would “learn from this” when jailing him and cancelling his licence for three years.