Northampton yob escapes jail over spitting at volunteer police officer while claiming he had Covid-19

Magistrates hand down 20-week suspended sentence for assaults and resisting arrest
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A yob has been given a 20-week suspended jail sentence for spitting at a Northampton police officer while believed to be infected with Covid-19.

Jamie Tidy, aged 33, admitted resisting an officer but denied the assault on a volunteer Special Constable just as the coronavirus pandemic hit Northampton in March 2020.

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Tidy was arrested on March 29, 2020, after police were called to an alleged assault. He pleaded not guilty at a hearing the following day, but the case only reached magistrates court in January this year due to the massive backlog in cases.

Tidy was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended a for a year at Northampton Magistrates' Court.Tidy was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended a for a year at Northampton Magistrates' Court.
Tidy was given a 20-week jail sentence suspended a for a year at Northampton Magistrates' Court.

Magistrates found him of the assault and he was sentenced to 12 weeks suspended for a year at a hearing on Wednesday (February 23).

Tidy, of Wellingborough Road, Northampton, also admitted a separate charge of assaulting a man on December 22, 2021, and was sentenced to a further eight weeks suspended for a year.

He was ordered to pay a total of £350 towards prosecution costs, a £128 surcharge to fund victim services and £50 compensation to the assault victim.