A 14-year-old boy has been arrested after allegedly spitting and coughing at a woman and shouting “coronavirus”.

The teen, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is accused of targeting a 66-year-old woman in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre in Greater Manchester on 17 March.

He has been charged with one count of section 39 assault and will appear at Tameside Youth Court on 7 April.

Two men have also been charged over similar offences involving police officers in the city of Manchester.

Samuel Konneh, 38, was arrested after spitting blood in the faces of four police officers responding to reports of a woman being assaulted in the area of Withington on Thursday.

He appeared at Manchester and Salford Magistrates’ Court on Saturday charged with four counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent in relation to the incident.

Mr Konneh, from Withington, also faces one count of stalking and one of battery, relating to a female victim.

The defendant, who did not enter any pleas, has been remanded into custody until he next appears at Manchester Crown Court on 24 April.

Mateusz Rejewski, 33, has also been charged after coughing at a police officer while claiming to have coronavirus during a separate incident in Manchester on the same day.

Police were responding to an incident in Piccadilly Gardens, where they detained Mr Rejewski for breaching a dispersal order.

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The detaining officer who was coughed at has been self-isolating since the alleged incident as a precaution.

Mr Rejewski, of no fixed address, has been charged with one count of common assault on an emergency service worker and one count of breaching a dispersal notice.

He is being held in custody and is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 28 April.

Police in Scotland are also hunting for a teenager who coughed in a healthcare worker’s face and told her she would catch coronavirus

The alleged assault took place in the town of Banchory after the youngster flagged down the woman’s car on Friday.