A man who spat blood in the faces of several police officers while telling them that he has COVID-19 has been sent to prison.
Manchester Crown Court heard how Samuel Konneh spat at officers only three days after the UK went into lockdown.
One of the police officers who Konneh spat at felt the droplets of blood land in his mouth. This meant that he had to self-isolate from his family for two weeks as he faced an uncertain prognosis.
Officer had been called to Konneh’s home after he started to stalk one of his friends who had declined his advances towards her.
The court was told how Konneh refused to open his door to the officers who had been called to the address.
As officers tried to gain entry into the property to speak to Konneh about the allegations, Konneh hit his mouth which caused it to bleed.
It was at this point that he stuck his head around the door and started to spit blood at the officers.
Konneh pleaded guilty to two counts of assault on an emergency worker. He had already pleaded guilty to one count of stalking at an earlier hearing.
Andrew Mackintosh prosecuting told the court that Konneh had become obsessed with a friend of his.
Konneh approached the female victim in the street and tried to grab her phone, but a woman and a neighbour intervened before Konneh ran home.
Mr Mackintosh said when officers arrived Konneh was shouting from the upstairs window, “saying he had the virus and started to cough in an exaggerated manner”.
He added: “Suddenly the door opened a short distance and the defendant appeared. The defendant then spat at the officers, covering them with blood and spit.”
Konneh, originally from Sierra Leone, has 17 previous convictions for various offences.
Jailing him for two years, Judge Richard Mansell QC said:
“Police officers and other emergency workers have literally taken their lives in their hands in the last three months by continuing to work.
“This is a quite appalling piece of conduct, quite deliberate as well and calls for deterrent sentences, particularly in the current climate of Covid-19.”
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