Covid cougher gets jail for other crimes
A Christchurch man who filmed himself coughing and sneezing on shoppers at a supermarket has been jailed – for driving offences.
Raymond Gary Coombs, 39, was sentenced in the Christchurch District Court yesterday to 16 months’ prison and fined $750.
In April, he pleaded guilty to a charge of offensive behaviour after he went to Fresh Choice supermarket in Barrington and filmed himself deliberately coughing and sneezing on people.
Just a few days earlier on March
31, Coombs uploaded a video to Facebook saying he had been infected with Covid-19. He tested negative for Covid-19 after his arrest.
Judge Raoul Neave said yesterday Coombs’ ill-considered prank came at a time when everyone was highly concerned for their own safety and his actions consequently earned him ‘‘significant notoriety’’.
Coombs was convicted of drunk driving after he was caught driving in August last year, with a blood alcohol level of 239mg of alcohol per
100ml of blood .
He was later
charged
with further offences, including careless driving and refusing to provide a blood sample, as well as breach of release conditions after he contacted a former partner he was not allowed to communicate with. He entered guilty pleas on all three of these charges yesterday.
Judge Neave sentenced Coombs to 16 months’ imprisonment, with the ability to apply for home detention once a bed at a residential rehabilitation centre was available.
He said all of Coombs’ offending came at a time when he was bingedrinking, and the evidence before the court confirmed that Coombs had some deep-seated issues that directly link to his alcohol use and offending.