Man 'with coronavirus' attacked police officer in Southend

Allessandro Berry was jailed for four months after an attack on police officer Sean Sheppard in Southend on May 5.

The 22-year-old had a “flagrant disregard for people” as he spat at the officer before throwing a bottle of water over him that he had drunk from.

At the time, Berry, of Poplar High Street, London, knew that he might have been infected with the Covid-19 virus, but still laughed as he carried out the vile acts against the officer.

Berry appeared at Chelmsford Magistrates Court last week, where he admitted assaulting an emergency worker, and also damaging a police van in Thurrock on the same day, costing the force £63.

Berry’s sentence follows a long line of attacks on police officers in south Essex in the past six months.

In March, right after lockdown began, Damian Draper, 25, of no fixed address, coughed at a police officer after he’d been arrested for assault in Hadleigh. He was jailed for a year at Basildon Crown Court last week.

Chairman of the Essex Police Federation Laura Higgie has called for permanently longer sentences for those who attack police officers after the pandemic.

The maximum prison term for assaulting an emergency worker rose to a year in 2018, but now the government is looking to potentially increase this to two years.

But Ms Higgie said she wants the government to take firm action against the criminals.

She said: “There is no point saying, ‘send them to prison for two years’, you could say send them to prison for five years, if it’s not going to happen or they’re not going to get custodial sentences then the words mean nothing, and that doesn’t protect anybody.

“Officers are spat at and coughed at, and that is being followed up by their attacker saying they have coronavirus. It’s a significant threat.

“We’ve seen some harsher sentences coming in relation to assaults on police. They need to be maintained.

“It needs to be more than just the flavour of the month.

“There needs to be a strong message sent out which then hopefully make people realise if they do assault officers, then they’re going to end up going to prison.”

'Pandemic is no excuse for abuse'

ESSEX Police has slammed crooks for attacking officers after a number of cases across south Essex.

In the past six months there have been a number of high profile crimes committed against police officers in south Essex.

Last week saw Damian Draper, a 25-year-old previously spared jail for road rage on the A127, cough at and threaten an officer while he was handcuffed at Basildon Police Station.

This happened at the end of March, right after lockdown began, and was described as a “frightening and targeted” attack. He was jailed for a year.

A couple of weeks later on April 10 in North Avenue, Southend, 35-yearold Ben Westbrook headbutted an officer as he was being led away from his home address.

Despite warnings he spat at the officer, and was arrested again for two counts of assaulting an emergency worker.

He was jailed for nine months.

Chief Inspector Ian Hughes, district commander for Southend, said: “The assault of officers in their line of duty in my opinion is disgusting, they are coming there to do a job to make people safe and catch criminals, that’s all they’re doing.

“To assault them or cause them injuries especially around Covid, is terrible and unacceptable.

“Anything to support a reduction in officers being assaulted I will be largely supportive of.”

A spokesman for Essex Police said: “Policing can be a difficult and dangerous job at times, and sadly, there are far too many occasions when they are assaulted while trying to do their job to keep our county safe.

“We will not tolerate this kind of abhorrent behaviour and will take robust action against anyone who assaults our staff.

“This year has been tough for everyone and we know that the necessary restrictions placed upon all of us to control the spread of coronavirus have left some frustrated.

“But there is no excuse to assault someone, especially just for doing their job.”