A 45-YEAR-OLD man has been charged with assaulting an emergency worker after coughing on a police officer and claiming he had coronavirus.

Officers were attending a report of a disturbance in Sowerby Bridge where it is alleged the 45 year old coughed at the officer saying that he had Covid 19.

Jason Roberts of Athol Gardens in Ovenden will appear at Leeds Magistrates Court this morning.

It comes just days after a Huddersfield woman, who was arrested for being drunk and disorderly, exhaled towards the officer and said she had Coronavirus. 

It meant she was further arrested for assaulting an emergency worker.

The 37 year old, who has been remanded into custody, is to be sentenced at Crown Court on a date yet to be fixed, following the incident that occurred in the early hours of Thursday, March 26.

The director of public prosecutions Max Hill has warned the public that using Covid-19 as a threat against emergency workers would be treated as a crime that could lead to up to two years in prison.

A number of incidents like this have taken place across the country with one resulting in a Haringey man being tasered by Metropolitan Police.

Speaking on the Huddersfield incident, Kirklees Detective Superintendent Jim Griffiths said: “Given the particularly challenging circumstances all emergency services are facing amid the ongoing Coronavirus outbreak, it is utterly incomprehensible that they would be treated in this way.

“Irrespective of the fact that this individual has chosen to use Coronavirus as the means to assault our colleague, this is a subject which we have campaigned long and hard over.

“It led to the introduction of the Assaults on Emergency Workers Act in 2018 and we will continue to use these powers against anyone who attempts to use such tactics against the very people who are trying to protect them.

“The message is clear, we will not tolerate this behaviour from the minority and the criminal justice system will take a dim view of those who take advantage of the virus for their own benefit.

“Clearly this has been particularly distressing for the officer concerned and we are providing the necessary support.

“It has not yet, however, been ascertained if the woman arrested was suffering from COVID-19.”