A man has been handed a suspended sentence after threatening police officers with an axe and spitting on them during an incident at a flat in Carlton.
Luke Hird threatened to hurt the officers with it if they didn’t leave before he went into his bedroom where he continued to be verbally threatening and aggressive towards them.
The officers began to negotiate with the 19-year-old to try and de-escalate the situation. Hird threw the axe down but then started throwing objects at them.
Shortly after he spat in the face of one officer and also spat at another.
After making more threats towards them one of the officers discharged their Taser and Hird was restrained.
The incident happened at Carlton Square on the night of April 13, 2020.
Hird, of no fixed address, went on to plead guilty to four counts of common assault of an emergency worker.
Appearing at Nottingham Crown Court yesterday (Wednesday 6 May 2020) he was handed an eight-month prison sentence, suspended for 18 months.
It comes after other recent cases which have seen offenders being jailed for up to 12 months for spitting at key workers, including frontline police officers, during the Coronavirus outbreak.
This latest conviction and sentencing also comes after emergency services workers across Nottinghamshire came together to launch a joint video asking people to treat key workers with respect – following a spate of over 60 incidents where frontline workers have been coughed on or spat at while on the frontline of dealing with the Covid-19 crisis.
The video was recently launched on social media by doctors, nurses, paramedics, police officers, prison officers, firefighters and other frontline workers from across the county as they continue to work hard to spearhead the nationwide response to the outbreak.
Chief Superintendent Rob Griffin, of Nottinghamshire Police, said: “We will not tolerate assaults on police officers and other frontline emergency workers. They should not have to suffer violence at any time and as they continue to serve the public in these challenging times.
“I find it disgusting that anyone would ever think to spit or cough at an emergency worker.
“The messages are loud and clear that anyone who commits offences of this nature can expect to be dealt with appropriately, and swiftly, and that Nottinghamshire Police and the majority of the Nottinghamshire are right behind our key workers as we work to defeat the virus together.”
