Criminal with “horrendous” record vows to leave Lincolnshire after jail stint

A South Holland man described as having an “horrendous” criminal record plans to leave the district when he has completed his latest jail sentence, Lincoln Crown Court was told on Monday.

Matthew Bellerson’s most recent offences occurred in October last year when he brandished a knife and chased two men from his bungalow home in Pinchbeck threatening to kill them.

Neighbours who witnessed the incident were put in fear by what they saw and contacted police who arrived to find Bellerson at his home.

Bellerson became aggressive when he was arrested and when he was placed inside a police vehicle he spat resulting in officers putting him in a spit-hood.

Tony Stanford, prosecuting, told the court “This defendant has an horrendous criminal record. He has 34 previous convictions for a total of 85 offences. His offending started in 1991 and has continued fairly consistently up until recent times.”

Bellerson, 46, of The Chase, Pinchbeck, admitted offences of affray, possession of a knife in a public place and criminal damage as a result of the incident on October 25, 2020.

He also admitted breach of a suspended jail sentence imposed at the Crown Court a month earlier for possession of an imitation firearm in Market Place, Spalding, and asked for two unconnected offences of breach of the peace to be taken into consideration.

During the Spalding incident he was in a wheelchair in Market Place when he reached into his jacket and pulled out an item which he pointed at a 60-year-old woman before reportedly shouting “bang, bang”, according to Spalding Voice.

Neil Sands, in mitigation, said that Bellerson stayed out of trouble for 10 years until 2018, but went off the rails again after his relationship broke down.

“He had a number of years when he was in employment and was a normal family man. What went wrong is that the relationship which provided him with stability ended. He took a very significant backwards step and started becoming involved in drugs.”

Mr Sands said the incident in October occurred as a result of Bellerson believing the two men had stolen his phone.

“His clear instructions to me are that when he is released he wants to put Lincolnshire behind him.

“He knows there has to be a new start and that has to be away from Lincolnshire. He wants to take himself away from what for him is very considerable emotional pain.”

Bellerson was jailed for a total of 53 weeks. Lincolnshire Police said they do not have a custody photo of him.