An ex con went on a booze binge in the midst of the Covid crisis and spat in a cop’s face just days after being released from prison, a court heard.
A sheriff told Craig Elwood that the spitting incident had to be seen as an extremely serious matter given the high risk of infection.
Sheriff Douglas Kinloch commented: “In a judgement given on 27 April the High Court confirmed that spitting on police officers when they’re in the middle of a coronavirus pandemic is not just unpleasant and disagreeable behaviour, it has to be seen as a serious matter which will usually justify a prison sentence.
“More than that, it has to be more than just a short sentence because of the danger spitting causes and the worry it causes to people concerned.”
He said the guidance issued by senior judges led him to consider that a six and a half month prison sentence was appropriate in the accused’s case. He also banned him from driving for a total of 580 days for motoring offences leading up to his arrest.
Livingston Sheriff Court was told that Elwood had abstained from alcohol for just two days after being released from a previous sentence on Hogmanay, 31 December 2020.
He found a stash of booze at his sister’s house in Livingston, West Lothian, on 2 January and drank it before borrowing her boyfriend’s car and going for a drive.
The court heard he drove the motor like a fairground dodgem, ramming it into wheelie bins and crashing into a garden fence.
When he put the silver Vauxhall Astra Excite into reverse he collided with a Nissan Micra parked on the road behind him and bending its bumper.
He reversed again, this time slamming the motor into a Vauxhall Mokka before shooting forward and colliding with a parked van.
Jim Robertson, prosecuting, told Livingston Sheriff Court that the noise of the early morning collisions wakened neighbours in the residential street, several of whom called the police.
One local resident, Paul Manson, came out to challenge Elwood about his driving exploits but the accused punched him on the face knocking him to the ground, so he went back inside.
When police arrived Elwood spat in the face of PC Graham McKenzie, sparking fears that he could have infected the officer with coronavirus.
Other officers took him to the ground and applied a spit hood before putting him in the back of the police vehicle.
At Livingston Police Station Elwood repeatedly failed to provide breath specimens to ascertain how much alcohol he had in his system.
To top it all, Mr Robertson said, checks established that Elwood was a disqualified driver, having failed to sit the extended test of competency to drive after a previous motoring ban. As a result he was not insured to drive the borrowed vehicle.
Elwood, 40, a scaffolder to trade, pled guilty on indictment today to a total of six charges. He admitted driving without due care and attention, while banned and without insurance during the incident in Peveril Rise, Livingston, on 3 January.
He also admitted assaulting Mr Manson, spitting on the police constable and failing to provide two specimens of breath.
He is currently in Perth Prison serving a sentence for breaching a previous court order by committing the New Year offences.
Andrew Houston, defending, said Elwood had been liberated on 31 December after being in custody since April 2019.
He told the court: “I’m afraid to say for a combination of reasons Mr Elwood was ill-equipped for release.
“For the last seven months prior to his release he essentially remained in his cell on a voluntary basis because it was made clear to him that members of an organised crime group would visit extreme violence on him if he did emerge from his cell.
“As I understand it (that was) because of a dispute between them and Mr Elwood’s brother. Instead of exposing himself to that danger or becoming involved in any conflict he elected to ‘keep the head down’ and keep out of harm’s way.”
As a consequence, Mr Houston said, Elwood – who had not seen his children for more than a year – had not been able to access mental health services.
Elwood, who appeared via a video link, was told the new prison term would start when his current sentence comes to an end on August 21.
