Coronavirus: UK man jailed for six months for coughing on police and threatening to infect him

A man who coughed on a police officer in the United Kingdom and threatened to infect him with coronavirus was on Wednesday sentenced to six months in jail, a police statement said.

Adam Lewis, 55, was sentenced under a specific law governing assaults against emergency workers, which was introduced in November 2018 and his sentence carries a maximum jail term of 12 months.

He was stopped by a policeman for searching, after allegedly trying to open the door handles of cars in central London on Tuesday afternoon.

Lewis upon being stopped, smashed a bottle of wine he was holding on the floor and then threatened to infect the officer, according to a statement from London’s Metropolitan Police.

“I am covid (19 positive) and I am going to cough in your face and you will get it,” he reportedly said, before coughing on the police officer.

According to Police, Lewis spit in the officer’s face and threatened to bite him before he was arrested and sentenced to six month imprison by Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday.

Chief Superintendent Helen Harper, talking about the case, said: “While these type of assaults are thankfully a rare occurrence, this incident was horrendous and if we do encounter this type of unacceptable behaviour we will be robust in our response.”

“I hope the sentence today conveys a strong message that it will not be tolerated.”