Coronavirus: Woman jailed for spitting at police officer

Mottershead spat at a police officer at Trafalgar House police station, Bradford

A woman who spat in the mouth of a police officer, saying she hoped he and his colleagues would die of coronavirus, has been jailed.

Lianne Mottershead, 30, was taken into custody in Bradford on Monday after she kicked a police officer in the groin during an incident in Huddersfield.

While there she spat at an officer and told the custody sergeant she had coronavirus.

She was jailed for a total of eight months at Leeds Magistrates' Court.

Prosecutors said Mottershead, of Longfield Avenue, Huddersfield, who was heavily intoxicated, later told police she had been advised by the NHS to self-isolate on the basis of the symptoms she described.

Chief Crown Prosecutor for Yorkshire and Humberside, Gerry Wareham, said: "In the current climate, it is beyond belief that someone should deliberately spit at another person, let alone a police officer performing their duties..."

More news from across Yorkshire