Vile man spat in Corby police officer's face after racist outburst

A police officer was left wiping spit from her face after she was gobbed on by a vile man she was arresting in Corby town centre.

David Carr had binged on beer and drugs when he hurled racist abuse at a security guard in the early hours of May 7 last year.

He then spat towards him and police were called - only for the 29-year-old to spit in a response officer's face despite the country battling the Covid-19 pandemic.

Yesterday (Wednesday) he was spared from prison and told to pay his victims compensation because of his disgusting behaviour.

Northampton Magistrates' Court heard Carr, formerly of Corby but now of Balfour Street in Kettering, was drunk in Corporation Street at about 2am when he first came to the attention of the security guard who was on duty and patrolling the area.

He was later seen acting strangely on a staircase and the security guard went to check on him but was told to "f*** off".

Prosecutor Julie Costello said Carr then ran towards him, screamed racist abuse and spat at his leg and police were called to the scene.

One officer who arrived was called a "b****" and as she was arresting Carr he filled his mouth with saliva and spat in her face.

In a victim statement, read out in court, she described the incident as "disgusting".

She said: "As an officer I do not expect to be carrying out my duties and be spat at...I should certainly not have to expose myself to more risk of Covid-19 by having spit on my face and in my eye."

Carr, who said he had drunk 15 bottles of beer and smoked about 10 joints of cannabis, claimed the officer had "spoken to him like a child".

He then said he did not intend to spit in her face.

Ms Costello said: "He said he was spitting at the ground in an attempt to make space between himself and the officer."

Carr was taken into custody and charged with assaulting an emergency worker and racially aggravated assault, which he admitted.

Mitigating, Waqar Ali said Carr had been to visit some friends because he was feeling depressed in the national lockdown and was paranoid about who was approaching him on his journey home.

He added that Carr was "absolutely devastated" that he now has a criminal record, that thoughts about going to prison had kept him awake at night and that he was full of remorse.

He said: "He acknowledges fully that no-one deserves to be spat at, certainly in this climate.

"His behaviour was totally unacceptable."

Before he was sentenced Carr requested to address magistrates himself to apologise and said he was "definitely not racist".

He said: "I am very sorry for my actions. I am not that person."

After deliberating for 10 minutes magistrates sentenced Carr to a 12-month community order with rehabilitation activities.

He will have to pay the police officer £150 in compensation and the security guard compensation of £200 because it was racially aggravated.

Chairman of the bench Stephen McClymont told him: "Spitting in the period in which we are in, a pandemic, is extremely unacceptable."