Police spat at as they made arrest

OFFICERS’ REP SAYS VIRUS ‘INCREASINGLY WEAPONISED’ BY SUSPECTS

A man described by police as “volatile” spat at officers and their van during his arrest.

Police were called to reports of a disturbance at a home in Victoria Street, Loughborough, at 3pm on Wednesday last week.

Two officers were then spat on by a man, who then spat on their police van after he was arrested.

Charnwood police said: “Officers continued to deal with the violent male in custody.”

Police said a 28-year-old man from Loughborough was arrested on suspicion of assault and public order offences.

No injuries were reported from the incident and police inquiries are ongoing.

The incident is the latest in a string of attacks on police officers.

In September, it was reported Leicestershire had the highest rise in the country in the number of assaults against officers during the pandemic.

Chief Constable Simon Cole condemned the “particularly distasteful trend” of offenders coughing and spitting on officers and threatening to infect them with coronavirus. Coughing entered the offence records in 2020, with 10 incidents, up from zero.

Despite numerous calls to prioritise officers in the Covid-19 vaccine rollout, Health Secretary Matt Hancock said officers would not be vaccinated until after groups one to nine, during a Downing Street press conference on February 8.

Adam Commons, Leicestershire Police Federation chairman, pictured, said the decision was “disgraceful” and that people were “increasingly weaponising the virus”.