‘Lowest of the low’ thug who bit cop is locked up

A thug who bit a police officer on the arm during the height of the coronavirus lockdown has been jailed.

The 21-year-old officer was attacked as she and her colleagues responded to reports of a street disturbance in Rochdale town centre on April 9.

Christopher Hill, 30, breached coronavirus rules at the time by attempting to visit his partner’s address.

He lashed out when the officers tried to explain to him that he should not be visiting other people’s homes.

The officer had to attend hospital following the incident in Drake Street. She later tested negative for the virus.

Days earlier she had been delivering Easter eggs to children while out on patrol.

Following the attack the

Chief Constable of Greater Manchester Police, Ian Hopkins, branded her assailant as the ‘lowest of the low.’

He tweeted: “Words fail me when it comes to some people’s behaviour. This is shocking at the best of times, but during a coronavirus pandemic this is just the lowest of the low. I trust the CPS and court will now do what we all expect of them!”

On Tuesday, Hill, of John Street, Waterfoot, Lancs, was jailed for 10 months after he admitted assault occasioning actual bodily harm as well as assaulting two other police officers in a scuffle and criminal damage to a door. Sentencing at Manchester Minshull Street Crown Court, Judge John Edwards told him: “The police have a duty to protect the public but are too often prevented from doing so by individuals like you who choose to attack them. “This was at the very height of the pandemic and the impact on the officers cannot be underestimated, whether you were carrying the virus or not.”

The judge said he accepted Hill’s remorse and apologies but told him the offence was so serious that it could only be met with immediate custody.

Words fail me when it comes to some people’s behaviour. This is shocking at the best of times

Ian Hopkins