By James Simons-
Over 300 prosecutions for assaults on emergency workers were completed in the first month of lockdown, CPS has today revealed.
The 313 attacks followed a typical pattern of police officers and other emergency workers being coughed at and spat on by members of the public claiming to have the virus.
Shop workers were also among the victims of 62 separate common assault prosecutions completed over the same period.
On 26 March, the Director of Public Prosecutions intervened to warn that anyone coughing and spitting at emergency workers while claiming to have Covid-19 faces assault charges.
There were prosecutions for 142 incidents of criminal damage, 99 public order offences, 62 common assaults and 44 shoplifting offences.
Mr Hill said some defendants had been charged with multiple crimes, and that there had been a “very high conviction rate” of around 97 per cent was being seen for coronavirus-related crimes because of a large number of guilty pleas.
The CPS has introduced a specific “Covid-19 monitoring flag” on its database to monitor related crimes that do not fall under the Coronavirus Act and Health Protection Regulations.
He said some crimes had started with shoplifting then ended with an assault on an emergency worker. Particularly appalling conduct towards police, paramedics, and nurses had also been seen.
Disgraceful
Max Hill QC today said: “It is disgraceful that hard-working essential workers continue to be abused during a health emergency and I have warned repeatedly that anyone doing so faces serious criminal charges.
“Offences which relate to coronavirus, including assaults on emergency workers, are being treated among the highest priority for charging decisions during the pandemic.
“I am pleased to see our strong stance reflected in this data, with hundreds of convictions recorded in the first month alone.
“All other crimes where there is a coronavirus element are also being captured by prosecutors so these can be treated as aggravating features in court.”
The CPS has introduced a specific ‘Covid-19 monitoring flag’ on its internal database so it can capture this element of the offending on existing crimes not necessarily covered by the new Coronavirus Act and Health Protection Regulations.
The ‘coronavirus element’, which will be flagged as an aggravating feature of the case, may included scams selling non-existent hand sanitiser or masks, or falsely informing individuals that they have been fined for leaving their home.
Abuse
It also included abuse directed at an individual or group based on the presumption that their country of origin is responsible for Covid-19.
The Crown Prosecution Service said that coronavirus-flagged data only included completed prosecutions up to 30 April 2020.