A man has been put behind bars after racially abusing a police officer before spitting at him in Newcastle city centre.
Anthony Minett, 31, was at Newcastle's Central Station Metro ticket concourse when he confronted a customer service advisor who told him he was unfit to travel.
Minett responded by slapping the Nexus employee before spitting on his shoulder shortly after 10pm on Friday, June 26.
Police were called and minutes later officers tracked Minett down on Grainger Street, where he racially abused a British Transport Police officer and spat at him.
Minett, of Harehills Tower, Kenton, was arrested and charged with racially aggravated common assault and assault of an emergency worker.
He appeared at North Tyneside Magistrates' Court on Monday, June 29, where he pleaded guilty to both offences and was jailed for 16 weeks.
Northumbria Police and Nexus have slammed Minett's 'disgusting' behaviour towards staff and hope his sentence sends out a strong message to others.
Detective Constable Paul Main, of Northumbria Police, said: "Anthony Minett should be absolutely ashamed of his actions and I welcome the custodial sentence handed to him in court.
"Police officers and Nexus staff come into work each day to keep people safe – but Minett showed a total disregard for their welfare when he committed these crimes.
"I hope this case highlights how seriously offences of this nature are being taken in the light of the current pandemic.
"The fact that he was arrested, charged, convicted and jailed all within the space of 72 hours is testament to the fantastic teamwork displayed by officers from Northumbria, British Transport Police and Nexus staff, who greatly assisted in order to put this case before the courts.
"We do not apologise for our zero-tolerance stance towards this type of behaviour and will continue to put offenders who abuse officers and staff before the courts."
Customer Services Director at Nexus, Huw Lewis, added: "The custodial sentence sends out a strong message that verbal and physical assaults on our staff will not be tolerated. It’s totally unacceptable.
"It’s great that we were able to work so quickly with the police to ensure that this case has had a satisfactory outcome and the person that did this is now behind bars."
