Three Doncaster people charged with coronavirus related assaults on emergency workers

Ch Supt Shaun Morley, Doncaster District Commander for South Yorkshire Police, described the assaults as ‘frankly sickening’ and said that those who threaten police by coughing and saying they have COVID-19 will be dealt with ‘robustly.’

He said: There has been a very small minority of people who have used the very difficult situation we find ourselves in to attempt to intimidate my officers.

“On such occasions, those who display what is frankly sickening behaviour towards police officers - who are working hard every day on the frontline to protect people across the borough - have been put before the courts by my team.”

Toni Swinburn, 19, of Urban Road, appeared at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court on 8 May charged with assault on an emergency worker. This followed an incident when officers responded to a call from her home address and she coughed in their faces numerous times whilst saying she was suffering from COVID. Swinburn was given a 20-month suspended sentence and ordered to pay two sums £150 compensation.

Following an incident during which a member of the public coughed at a PCSO and said ‘I hope you get COVID and die’, 40-year-old Keith Thompson of Stapleton Road, Warmsworth, appeared at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday 9 May, charged with assault on an emergency worker. He was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates later this month.

Finally, Cheryl Hall was given a five-week custodial sentence following a hearing at Doncaster Magistrates’ Court on Saturday 9 May. Hall, 28, of Bankwood Crescent, Rossington was charged with assault of an emergency worker and being drunk and disorderly in a public place after officers attended an incident in Conisbrough on 7 May.

He added: “My officers have worked particularly hard during this difficult time and I know that the smiles and waves, random acts of kindness and rainbows in windows have all touched them deeply.

“They have the right to do this without fear of being spat on, coughed at or confronted by individuals claiming to have Covid-19.”