Coronavirus: Man tasered after deliberately coughing at police officers and claiming he had Covid-19

'This is the sad reality of what your front-liners are faced with. This will not be tolerated,' say police

Metropolitan Police officers have tasered a man who they say deliberately coughed at them and claimed to be infected with coronavirus.

The force’s firearms command said on Twitter the suspect walked up to officers who were sat in a car in Haringey, north London, and “shouted that he had coronavirus before deliberately coughing saliva all over them”.

Officers said he then began to physically attack them and was tasered and arrested.

He later tested negative for Covid-19. The man has been bailed until early April.

Haringey Police later tweeted: “This is the sad reality of what your front-liners are faced with. This will not be tolerated.

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“Thank you MPS Firearms for your assistance with this individual, we appreciate your help.”

Police officers are still being deliberately coughed or spat on by members of the public despite warnings that such actions could lead to jail time.

The public was warned last week by Max Hill, director of public prosecutions, that using coronavirus as a threat against emergency workers would be treated as a crime carrying a punishment of up to two years in prison.

Deliberately coughing at other key workers, including supermarket staff, could be prosecuted as a common assault which could lead up to six months in prison.

On Saturday, police arrested Peter Davy, 65, who allegedly spat at officers after they were called to a report of criminal damage at a block of flats in Albion Street, Brighton.

Davy is due to appear at Brighton Magistrates' Court on Monday. He is accused of three counts of assaulting an emergency worker and charged with using threatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour with intent to cause fear of violence and harassment, alarm or distress.

In Salford, during a separate incident, a hospital workers was left with a fractured cheekbone after he was punched in the face.

Daniel Shevlin, 27, was charged with Section 20 ssault and an offence under Section 4a of the Public Order Act after the alleged incident at Salford Royal Infirmary on Sunday, said Greater Manchester Police.

The NHS staff member, a man in his 50s, required treatment for a fractured cheekbone but has since been discharged.

Shevlin, of no fixed abode, was remanded in custody and due to appear at Manchester and Salford Magistrates' Court on Monday.​