London – A man was jailed on Thursday for eight weeks after admitting to accosting England’s chief medical officer Chris Whitty in a central London park last year.
Jonathan Chew, 24, pleaded guilty to a charge of intent to cause harassment, alarm or distress to Whitty, in St James’s Park, last June.
Prosecutor Iestyn Morgan told Westminster Magistrates Court that Chew filmed on his phone as his friend Lewis Hughes threw his arm around Whitty and tried to drag him into shot, while the medical officer struggled to free himself.
District judge Paul Goldspring jailed Chew for eight weeks and ordered him to pay £1,058 (1,270 euros, $1,417).
Hughes, 24, received a suspended prison sentence last year after pleading guilty to assaulting Whitty.
Senior crown prosecutor Kalsoom Shah at the time called Hughes’ behaviour “shocking and disgraceful”.
It showed “little regard” for Whitty, who has been one of the most recognisable faces in the government’s response to the coronavirus pandemic.
It also broke social distancing rules in place at the time.
Whitty has been a key adviser to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and regularly appears at televised government coronavirus briefings.
He was not injured during the incident.
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Source: AFP
Picture: Pexels
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