Police across the country are clamping down on people deliberately coughing on others during the coronavirus pandemic.

On separate occasions, NHS staff have been coughed at on purpose, a pensioner was spat on by a teenager, a man is accused of spitting blood in police officer’s faces and another is accused of coughing on an officer while claiming he had coronavirus.

As the UK was placed on lockdown on Monday evening, police were given sweeping powers to ensure people stay at home and avoid non-essential travel during the COVID-19 crisis.

They have seen an increasing number of people using the disease to assault others.

Teenagers coughed at NHS staff

Police in Warrington, Cheshire, have promised to prosecute a group of teenagers who claimed to have coronavirus and deliberately coughed at NHS staff.

Sergeant Hillyard of Cheshire Police said: “The youths will be prosecuted as will their parental guardians.

“This is an absolutely abhorrent incident involving abuse of our NHS heroes.

“I will once again urge all parents and persons with parental responsibility to make sure that their children STAY INSIDE. You too can and will be prosecuted if you fail to keep your children inside.”

Teenager coughed at pensioner while shouting ‘coronavirus’

In Tameside, Greater Manchester, a 14-year-old boy has been charged with assault after a 66-year-old woman was coughed on and spat at.

Officers were called just before 8.30pm on Tuesday to a report that earlier that evening a boy had been coughing and shouting “coronavirus” at a woman in Ashton-under-Lyne town centre.

The boy, who cannot be named for legal reasons, is set to appear at Tameside Youth Court on 7 April.

Man spat blood in four police officers’ faces

In Withington, also in Greater Manchester, Samuel Konneh, 38, is accused of spitting blood in four police officers’ faces as they responded to reports of a woman being assaulted on Thursday.

He was charged with four counts of attempted grievous bodily harm with intent, with regards to the spitting, and one count of stalking and one count of battery relating to the woman.

Konneh was refused bail, did not enter a plea and was remanded in custody to appear at Manchester Crown Court on 24 April.

Man being arrested coughed at officer and said he had coronavirus

In central Manchester’s Piccadilly Gardens, another man, Mateusz Rejewski, 33, allegedly coughed at an officer on Thursday while claiming he had coronavirus.

The officer, who was detaining the suspect for breaching a dispersal order, is now self-isolating as a precaution.

Rejewski, of no fixed abode, has been charged with one count of common assault on an emergency service worker and one count of breaching a dispersal notice.

He is in custody and is due to appear at Manchester Magistrates’ Court on 28 April.

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