A man has been jailed for six months at York Magistrates Court for threatening to cough and spit on three North Yorkshire police officers.

Gary Stephen Stringer, 36, of Blueberry Way, Scarborough, claimed he had been diagnosed with Covid-19 a few days earlier.

One of the officers was trying to interview him at Scarborough Police Station after he was arrested in the early hours of Maundy Thursday.

Stringer pleaded guilty to three charges of assaulting an emergency worker.

Police Inspector Graeme Kynman said: “Police will not tolerate this behaviour and anyone suspected of committing such a crime against a police officer, or any fellow emergency worker, can expect to face prosecution.”

Sentencing Stringer, district judge Holland said: “These are serious assaults in the current climate on officers on the front line.