A drunk thug who spat at police officers claiming he had coronavirus has been jailed for a year.
Callum Heaton, 23, spat at two cops who had arrested him for being drunk and disorderly in the early hours of Saturday morning (28/3).
He claimed he had the deadly covid-19 virus which has so far killed more than 2,000 people in the UK.
Heaton was arrested after police were called to a report of a disturbance in Burnley, Lancs.
During the arrest, he spat at two officers claiming he was infected with covid-19 and continued spitting at them while he was taken to custody.
He was hauled before Burnley Magistrates’ Court on Monday (30/3) and pleaded guilty to two counts of assault on an emergency worker and one of criminal damage.
He was jailed for a total of 12 months.
A spokesperson for Lancashire Constabulary said: “This was a particularly offensive and dangerous offence at this particular time spitting at officers.
Unacceptable
“It is totally unacceptable that police and other front line workers who are doing their best to keep our communities safe are treated like this.
“It is good to see that the court are taking these type of incidents seriously.”
The shocking incident comes after the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said anyone who ‘coronavirus coughs’ at someone could be sent to prison on assault charges.
Last week, 40-year-old David Mott was jailed for 26 weeks after coughing and spitting towards a police officer after saying he would give her covid-19.
Blackburn magistrates heard the officer, Sgt Linda Haywood, was appalled by the behaviour Mott.
In a victim impact statement, Sgt Haywood said she accepted she put herself at risk in the course of her duty and took all possible precautions.
She told the court: “What I don’t accept is total disregard for my safety by the defendant. The utter contempt he showed towards me both as a police officer and a fellow human being disgusts me.”
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