Following a Thames Valley Police investigation, a man in Oxford has been jailed for offences including assaulting a police office, racially aggravated public order and shoplifting.
It is alleged that on Monday, Jonny Sansom, 24, of Victoria Road, Haringey, was being escorted from Sainsbury’s in Templars Shopping Park on suspicion of shoplifting when he became aggressive, and both racially abused and assaulted an officer.
He also claimed he had coronavirus and coughed in the face of the police officers.
Yesterday, Sansom was charged with one count of theft from a shop, one count of racially aggravated public order, one count of assault by beating of an emergency worker and one count of using threatening/abusive/insulting words/behaviour with intent to cause fear of/provoke unlawful violence.
Oxford City LPA Commander, Superintendent Joe Kidman, said:
“I am very pleased that we’ve seen swift and robust justice in this case.
“Sansom is now in jail following his vile actions on Monday against shop staff and our police officers, who were all doing their job to serve our community.
“It is a salutary reminder of the particular dangers that police officers face at this time. The Chief Constable and I have spoken to them and thanked them personally, and their welfare is being managed.
“A round of applause from those waiting to get in to the store was greatly appreciated by the officers involved. The vast majority of people are doing everything they can to save lives by maintaining social distancing and have been very supportive of our officers.
“It is never acceptable to assault anyone who is simply just doing their job and this has been reflected by the sentence in this case. As a reminder to all, it is a form of assault to cough in anyone’s face with malicious intentions during this pandemic and those who do so can expect to be prosecuted through the courts.
“Our aim is to engage, explain and encourage rather than enforce, but in this case we were left with no other option.
“I’d also like to thank all the officers and staff who have worked on this case to get such quick justice.”
Sansom was jailed at Oxford Magistrates Court for 20 weeks.
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