A man who spat in Jeremy Corbyn’s face during the first wave of the coronavirus pandemic and verbally abused his wife has been sentenced.
Gerald Dore, 56, from Islington, admitted a charge of assault for spitting at the former Labour leader and a public order offence for verbally abusing and physically threatening Laura Alvarez.
Dore has been given a 18-month community order, with 80 hours of unpaid work. He was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to Corbyn and £100 to Alvarez.
He was sentenced as Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday.
Rob Hutchinson of the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) said it was “completely unacceptable behaviour” by Gerald.
“At a time the country was reeling from the effects of Covid-19, Dore without provocation spat in the face of a prominent member of parliament and during an expletive ridden onslaught, physically threatened Ms Alvarez,” he said.
“This successful prosecution should put no one in any doubt that we will take firm action against those who abuse others in this way and, in this case, our elected officials and their families, who should be able to go about their personal business without being put in fear.”
It comes after research suggested a third of police officers have been threatened with infection by members of the public claiming to have Covid-19.
A survey of around one in 10 rank-and-file officers by the Police Federation of England and Wales found that 30% said at least once during the last six months a member of the public thought to have the virus had threatened to spit at them.
And 32% said someone who they believed to have Covid-19 had threatened to breathe or cough on them.
The research also showed that 21% had a member of the public believed to have the virus actually try to spit at them, while 24% had someone try to breathe or cough on them.
Just over half, 55%, said that they had been the victim of an unarmed physical attack in the past year, while 16% said they had suffered injuries requiring medical attention.