A man has been given a short prison sentence for coughing on police officers, threatening to spit on them, and saying he hoped to infect them with coronavirus and that the virus would spread to their children.

41-year-old Michael Gray, of Ingatestone Road in South London, was approached by two police constables on Upper Tulse Hill in Brixton after they noticed he “appeared to be harassing three women”, according to a Metropolitan Police statement.

The officers discovered he “wanted on warrant for failing to appear at Croydon Magistrates’ Court in relation to driving whilst under the influence of drugs” and arrested him, at which point he became aggressive, coughing at them, threatening to spit on them, and indicating that he hoped to infect them with the Chinese coronavirus and that they would pass the disease to their children.

“This attack on our officers whilst carrying out their duties protecting the communities of Lambeth and Southwark is an attack on every one of us,” commented Superintendent Kris Wright for the Metropolitan Police.

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“Both officers displayed the finest qualities of the Met, in spite of threats to, and the risk of Covid-19 infection through this man’s actions, and even worse his desire to cause harm to the officers’ children,” Wright continued, adding that he was “grateful to the court that it treated this matter with the seriousness it deserves.”

However, the sentence handed down to Gray “for the assault on police officers” was not exactly severe, at just eight weeks — especially given the fact that it is standard practice for criminals handed such sentences to be automatically released on licence halfway through their term.

He was also told to serve “the remaining 11 weeks of the sentence for the drug driving offence” and disqualified from driving for 26 months, and given a £100 fine for the public order offence.

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