Drunk man coughed and sneezed at police and told them: ‘Have some coronavirus’

He had been told to go home after being caught drinking in public but was reportedly found abusing staff in a Boots later that day.

A man has been jailed for 24 weeks after coughing and sneezing towards police officers while drunkenly flouting lockdown rules.

According to Dorset Police, Martin Turner, 50, from Bournemouth, told the officers: ‘Have some coronavirus.’

They were initially cautioning him for failing to comply with lockdown rules and being drunk and disorderly, but took him to the station to be charged after he launched the assault.

Police were called to a report of a man behaving antisocially in a street at 7am on Wednesday and arrived to find Turner drinking from a can of cider.

He told them he did not care about the lockdown but the officers told him to go home and warned him he could be arrested or fined otherwise.

Just before 1pm the same day officers were called to Boots on a high street near Soutbourne and staff told them he had been ignoring the store’s social distancing rules and had become verbally abusive.

For all the latest news and updates on Coronavirus, click here.

For our Coronavirus live blog click here.

They then arrested him on suspicion of being drunk and disorderly in a public place and failing to comply with a direction under coronavirus legislation.

He was not confirmed to have the virus and showed no symptoms, Dorset Police added.

He was sentenced at Poole Magistrates’ Court on Thursday for the two offences he was arrested for as well as assaulting an emergency worker.

Chief Constable James Vaughan, of Dorset Police, said: ‘Coughing and sneezing at officers is particularly abhorrent during the public health emergency we are all facing.

‘We will not tolerate assaults on our officers or our emergency services colleagues.

‘Offenders will be dealt with robustly and this case demonstrates that we will bring criminal proceedings against those responsible.’

Emergency workers and public officials have been subjected to a slew of coronavirus-related assaults and abuses since the lockdown was imposed.

Paul Leivers, from Nottingham was jailed this week for a year after blowing at two police officers while claiming to have the virus.

Marcus Spiteri, 35, was jailed on Friday in Bristol after telling a council worker he thought was Chinese to ‘go home’ and accusing him of bringing the virus into the country.

He also physically assaulted an officer who attended the scene.

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

For more stories like this, check our news page.