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'ABHORRENT'

Coronavirus Scotland: Thugs carried out 265 attacks on cops in first month on lockdown

THUGS carried out 265 attacks on cops and force staff in the first month of lockdown, figures reveal.

A shocking 90 cases saw yobs deliberate cough or spit on officers — risking passing on coronavirus.

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 90 cases involved yobs coughing or spitting on officers
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90 cases involved yobs coughing or spitting on officersCredit: PA:Press Association

Tory shadow justice secretary Liam Kerr blasted the “abhorrent” assaults, which took place between March 24 and April 30. He said: “These are completely unacceptable.

“Our emergency services have been at the forefront of the Covid response and they have jeopardised their own safety in the process.

“The fact 89 of these were Covid-related is particularly abhorrent.


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"Perpetrators must feel the force of the law.”

It came after the Scottish Police Federation called for anyone who commits a “Covid-19 assault” to be detained until they appear in court.

But Lord Advocate James Wolffe said he is powerless to stop their release as they cannot “automatically” be held in custody.

He said the European Convention on Human Rights “sets out the statutory test which must be applied by Police Scotland when deciding whether or not an accused person can be detained”.

He added: “A proposal that all persons arrested for coughing or spitting on police officers during the Covid-19 pandemic should be automatically detained would not be consistent with this statutory framework.”

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