Jail for man who spat in police officer's face
A DRUNKEN man who spat in a policeman’s face after being arrested for having a knife in the street has been jailed for a total of seven months.
David Paul Jones, 39, of no fixed address, pleaded guilty at Warwick Crown Court to having a bladed article in a public place and assaulting a policeman in the execution of his duty.
John Bartlett, prosecuting, said that on September 4 Jones was outside an old people’s home in Warwick Road, Solihull, shortly after 8pm.
A passer-by saw Jones, who was obviously drunk, in the street with a bottle of alcohol beside him and a knife in his hand.
The police and an ambulance were called, but when they arrived he was abusive.
When he was arrested he spat in the face of one of the officers, said Mr Bartlett, who pointed out that Jones had previous convictions for assaulting police officers – including spitting blood and saliva into an officer’s face.
Gerard Cullen, defending, said drink had played a big part in Jones’s offending over the years, and he had been out drinking that day, but the knife was never brandished in a threatening manner.
Jailing Jones, Judge Christopher Hodson told him: “Having a knife in your possession is regarded by the courts as a serious offence because if people with them get into a confrontational situation the knife sometimes comes out and serious injury is caused.”
He jailed Jones for six months for having the knife in a public place, with a consecutive one-month sentence for the assault on the officer.
