Woman convicted of assaulting an emergency worker after she deliberately coughed in face of police officer in Warwick

Warwickshire Rural Crime Team has reported that Mary McDonagh, aged 30 from Barnsley was arrested and charged for the offence recently after she had failed to attend court in October last year.

The arrest and charge were in relation to an incident at Aylesford School in Warwick in June last year when crime team officers were called to an illegal encampment at the site where damage had been caused by the trespassers who had parked caravans on the playing fields.

When visiting the location, the officers identified a stolen caravan and while in the process of seizing it, one of them was assaulted by McDonagh who had said she 'had Covid' and coughed directly into the the face of the officer.

McDonagh was ordered to serve 16 weeks in prison, suspended for 12 months, carry out 40 hours unpaid work and to pay £250 in compensation.

In the days after the incident the officer underwent two tests for Covid-19 which both came back as negative.