Spitting race hate abuse woman jailed

A woman who spat at one police officer and racially abused another has been sent to prison for 16 weeks as justices condemned her actions, particularly in relation to coronavirus infection risks.
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Chantelle Hurst, of Rivington Drive, Bickershaw, appeared in the dock to plead guilty to assaulting three constables in all, the third of whom she doused in lager and pushed.

The bench at Wigan and Leigh Magistrates’ Court described the assaults on PCs Jubral Khan, Calum Wood and Rachael Barnes as “deplorable at the best of times.”

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But they said there was an added negative element to the spitting given the current dangers posed by Covid-19 infection.

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The chair said that PC Khan had been racially abused “for no reason other than he was trying to assist her” after she was taken to Wigan Infirmary for treatment.

The other two officers were assaulted while at Hurst’s home earlier that night on June 13.

Hurst also admitted to breaching bail by failing to turn up for a February 9 court hearing in connection with the attacks.

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The hearing was told that Hurst had previous convictions for assaulting emergency workers.

This, added to the racial abuse and spitting were all aggravating features which meant that the 30-year-old warranted a custodial sentence, the magistrates told her.

Hurst was also ordered to pay £50 apiece in compensation to the three police officers and, when court costs and a victim services surcharge were added on, her final bill came to £363.

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