Man who spat in face of police officer jailed
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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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Hide AdThe 34-year-old suspect was taken to hospital, where Haswell also made threats to head-butt another officer and spat at him.
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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Hide AdDetective 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.”