Man who spat in face of police officer jailed

A man is starting a jail term after spitting in the face of a police officer called to deal with a street disturbance in the middle of the day and then again when he was taken to hospital.
By Fiona Thompson
Published 24th Jul 2020, 17:00 BST
Updated 24th Jul 2020, 18:15 BST
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Gary Haswell is now starting a 32-week prison sentence following the incident in Pelton on Wednesday, July 22.

Durham Constabulary has said its officers were called to a disturbance in Alexandra Street at around 12.30pm and when Haswell was spoken to, he spat directly into an officer’s face.

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The 34-year-old suspect was taken to hospital, where Haswell also made threats to head-butt another officer and spat at him.

Gary Haswell, 22, from Chester-le-Street is now starting a 32-week prison sentence after spitting on a police officer.Gary Haswell, 22, from Chester-le-Street is now starting a 32-week prison sentence after spitting on a police officer.
Gary Haswell, 22, from Chester-le-Street is now starting a 32-week prison sentence after spitting on a police officer.
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The spit landed on the officer’s trousers and the treatment room door, which had to be deep cleaned and deprived other patients of the room while the clean-up operation was carried out.

Haswell, of George Street, Chester-le-Street, faced two charges of assaulting an emergency worker and one of criminal damage.

He appeared at Newton Aycliffe Magistrates’ Court by videolink this morning, Friday, July 24, and was handed the prison sentence after admitting the charges.

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Detective Constable Mal Ord, from Durham Constabulary, welcomed the sentence given to Haswell by the bench.

He said: “Officers are regularly putting their own lives at risk to protect our communities and keep people safe.

“They should never have to face abuse or assaults while simply doing their job – this type of behaviour is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.”

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