Tissue attack: Man found guilty of assault in Adelaide – throwing tissue at police officer
>
Tissue attack: Prisoner found guilty of assault for ‘intentionally throwing a mucus-filled tissue at an officer’ during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic
- A man was found guilty of throwing a used tissue at an Adelaide police officer
- Jaymaine Heron, 25, flung the tissue at Sergeant Danny O’Mahony in late 2020
- The officer said his actions were ‘despicable, disgusting and un-Australian’
- Heron was convicted of the tissue assault but will appeal the sentence
<!–
<!–
<!–<!–
<!–
<!–
<!–
A man was found guilty of assault for throwing a dirty tissue at a police officer during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Jaymaine Heron, 25, threw the ‘mucus-filled tissue’ at Sergeant Danny O’Mahony in August 2020 inside a city watchhouse cell in Adelaide.
He had used the tissue to wipe his nose and mouth before throwing it at the officer, the court heard on Tuesday.
Sgt O’Mahony told the court the actions were ‘despicable, disgusting and downright un-Australian’.
‘Intentionally throwing a mucus-filled tissue at an officer is akin to spitting at a person,’ he said.
Body cam footages shows Jaymaine Heron (pictured) approaching Sergeant Danny O’Mahony with the tissue in August 2020 in an Adelaide City Watchhouse cell
After the assault Heron can be seen mocking the officer with the tissue (pictured)
Intentionally throwing a mucus-filled tissue at an officer is akin to spitting at a person,’ Sgt O’Mahony (pictured) said in court on Tuesday
The veteran officer was monitoring him in the cell after Heron had been arrested that night over an unrelated matter.
Police body cam footage showed Heron verbally abusing and mocking the officer before he approached him, throwing the tissue.
A scuffle broke out as Sgt O’Mahony restrained Heron against a wall.
‘He just threw a bl***y dirty tissue at me,’ Sgt O’Mahony is heard in the video saying to another police officer.
The prisoner continued to laughing at the officer after he had been subdued, showing the tissue in his hand and telling Sgt O’Mahony that his face was contaminated.
The officer read a victim statement after the verdict: ‘To then try and mock and tease me after the act only aggravates the depravity of your offending.
‘Your actions were despicable, disgusting and downright un-Australian. It’s such a low act which was further compounded by you showing no remorse whatsoever.’
Sgt O”Mahony also said Heron’s assault put the officer’s family at risk of contracting Covid-19.
Magistrate Edward Stratton-Smith said throwing a tissue at someone’s face was an application of force enough to be considered as an assault.
He told the court Heron can be seen licking or wiping the tissue against his nose and said it was disgusting and insulting.
He was sentenced with a conviction but no other punishment was given as he had already spend two weeks in custody.
Heron will appeal against the verdict, the court heard.
‘Your actions were despicable, disgusting and downright un-Australian,’ Sgt O’Mahony’s victim statement read when he recounted the assault at the Adelaide Watchhouse (pictured)