A patient has been sentenced after he deliberately coughed in the face of a nurse and claimed he had coronavirus.
The incident happened at an NHS hospital on 26 March 2020 at around 6.30 am after a man was asked repeatedly to cover his mouth.
Mark Payne, 45, of no fixed address was arrested, charged and remanded in custody on 1 April 2020 and appeared at Nottingham Magistrates’ Court on 9 April 2020 where he was sentenced for 10 weeks, suspended for six months.
He has been charged with common assault of an emergency worker under the Emergency Workers Act.
Inspector Christine Busuttil said: “Nottinghamshire Police takes assaults on emergency services workers extremely seriously and protecting the health of front line NHS staff is extremely important during the current coronavirus pandemic.”
