A man who threatened to infect a policeman with COVID-19 by coughing on him has been sentenced to six months in jail in Britain.
The convict, 55-year-old Adam Lewis was sentenced by a Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday following his arrest on Tuesday.
According to a statement from the London Metropolitan Police, he was sentenced under a November 2018 law guiding assault against emergency workers.
Lewis was said to be trying the handles of cars on the streets of central London on Tuesday when a policeman spotted, and attempted to stop and search, him.
Lewis then broke a wine bottle he was holding on the floor and threatened to stab the policeman with it.
“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.
He also attempted to spit in the policeman’s face and threatened to bite him.
“While these types 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,” Chief Superintendent Helen Harper said.
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According to a UK government release, as of 9 am on April 1, 152,979 people have been tested for COVID-19, of which 29,474 were confirmed positive.
Also, 2,352 of those hospitalised who tested positive for the virus have died as of March 31.