A man who spat at a police officer while claiming to have Covid-19 during one of the worst periods of the pandemic has been jailed for 12 weeks.

Everyone except keyworkers were confined to their home under the second UK-wide lockdown and more than 100 people a day were dying from coronavirus in the UK when Daniel Rodgers, 23, targeted two policemen.

At the time, only more vulnerable members of society had received one vaccine dose and very few, mostly the very elderly, had received two.

After the prosecution outlined details of the incident in York on March 5 last year, district judge Adrian Lower jailed Rodgers for 12 weeks.

“This was a serious attack on public officials,” the judge said at York Magistrates Court.

“The defendant spat at one officer and racially abused another whilst claiming to have Covid in a time of national pandemic.

“The officer was seriously affected. Officers doing their job should not be subjected to abuse like this.”

Rodgers, of Burdyke Avenue, Clifton, pleaded guilty to using racially aggravated words or behaviour towards one police officer and assaulting a police emergency worker.

The sentence for the assault was 12 weeks and the judge announced that he had tripled the sentence for the public order offence from four weeks to 12 weeks because of the racial nature of what Rodgers had done.

Both sentences were ordered to be served concurrently.

Rodgers was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to the officer he racially abused and £100 compensation to the officer whom he spat at while claiming to have Covid.

North Yorkshire Police Chief Constable Lisa Winward said: "I feel strongly that it is never acceptable for abuse of this type towards police officers and staff should be tolerated and it should not be simply considered as ‘part of the job’.

“While it is clear that the nature of policing requires members of the organisation to deal with volatile and hostile situations, abuse of this nature is serious and unacceptable.

"The sentencing guidelines reflect this fact and highlight that racially and religiously public order offences against anyone is an aggravating feature.

“Most importantly it should be remembered that police officers and staff of all backgrounds are people, they are fathers, mothers, sons and daughters.

"When they suffer sickening abuse they become victims just like any other, but victims who have been subject of this type of abuse while trying to serve and protect others from being victimised.”

Rodgers also admitted two unrelated offences of being drunk and disorderly that were committed in York Railway Station in January 2022 and in Fishergate in July 2021. Both offences are non-imprisonable and he received no separate sentence for them.