"Hope you die of corona": West Yorkshire woman sentenced in Leeds for spitting at police officer

Lianne Mottershead, 30, assaulted a police officer by kicking him in the groin in the early hours of Monday, April 6, while heavily intoxicated.

She was then taken to Trafalgar House Police Station in Bradford, where she spat at a different police officer.

The spittle landed in his mouth and on his cheek.

Mottershead, of Huddersfield, told the custody sergeant that she was infected with coronavirus, going on to tell another officer that she hoped they would ‘die of corona.’

In her police interview she said that the NHS had advised her to self-isolate on the basis of the symptoms she described.

Chief Crown Prosecutor for CPS Yorkshire and Humberside, Gerry Wareham, said: “This behaviour is as disgusting as it is dangerous.

"In the current climate, it is beyond belief that someone should deliberately spit at another person, let alone a police officer performing their duties in the current challenging circumstances.

“Mottershead has been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment.

"I hope she spends that time reflecting on the absolute stupidity of her actions.”

Mottershead was sentenced to two months for the initial assault by beating of an emergency worker, and a further six months for the second assault, involving spitting.

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