A man has been sentenced to a year in prison after he splashed urine and water in a Nottinghamshire Detention Officer’s face, spat at three other officers and physically assaulted two of them.
Officers on patrol came across Omar Osman carrying a stick in Sneinton Road at around 7.10 pm on Tuesday 18 August. He quickly became aggressive shouting and swearing at them.
The 25-year-old, of Sneinton, was detained at the scene on suspicion of public order offences at which point he spat in the arresting officer’s mouth and kneed him to the ribs while claiming he was COVID positive.
In custody later that evening, Osman spat in the face of a detention officer, splashed water mixed with urine from the cell floor into the face of another detention officer and hit the custody Sergeant around the head while spitting in his face.
He then went onto cause damage to his cell by scratching paint off and urinating all over it. When officers went to stop him, he was actively resistant and grabbed one of their trousers, ripping the pocket as he refused to let go.
He was charged with four counts of assaulting an emergency worker, two counts of criminal damage and a section five public order offence and sentenced to 52 weeks in prison on Friday (21 August 2020).
Chief Superintendent Rob Griffin said: “Spitting at police officers when they are working hard to do their job and keep people safe is so far away from acceptable behaviour that I really struggle to find the words to describe it. This type of behaviour will not be tolerated and we will continue to take immediate positive action. I’m very pleased that Osman has been dealt with swiftly by the courts and hope that he will reflect on his behaviour from his prison cell.”
In April, key workers from across Nottinghamshire came together to launch a video plea to the public following a spate of over 60 incidents where frontline workers had been coughed on or spat at while on the frontline of dealing with the Coronavirus outbreak.
The campaign has received support from the NHS, Nottinghamshire Police, Nottinghamshire Fire and Rescue Service, East Midlands Ambulance Service, the Ministry of Justice, a number of the county’s local authorities and other bodies.
The video itself features key workers talking about their essential work, as well as telling the story of the mothers, fathers, sons, daughters, brothers and sisters behind the uniform and shedding light on the effects that the assaults have had on their loved ones.
