A man has been jailed after racially abusing a council worker in Bristol, accusing them of bringing coronavirus into the country.
Marcus Spiteri, 35, became abusive after being told the council office was closed during the lockdown.
He told the council staff member - who he mistakenly thought was Chinese - to 'gone home' and said he'd brought the virus into the country. He later assaulted a police office and an emergency worker.
He has been jailed for eight weeks for the racially aggravated public order incident and 21 weeks for actual bodily harm caused to the officer.
In a separate incident, a 48-year-old man was jailed for coughing at two officers after telling them he had COVID-19.
Chief Constable at Avon and Somerset Police, Andy Marsh, said: 'Those who think it’s acceptable to assault officers during the course of their duty can expect to be sent to prison, as has been shown in these two cases.
'The officers were protecting the public by arresting people who’d carried out domestic abuse and hate crime offences and they should not be subjected to this disgusting and degrading behaviour by a criminal minority.'
