Clacton policeman had blood spat at him during lockdown, court hears

The court heard how Joshua Nutt, 29, had been identified by police officers in Clacton after he was involved in a scuffle on Saturday, July 11, 2020.

When officers attempted to arrest him Nutt, of Tudor Square West, Ware, Hertfordshire, spat blood in the face of PC Shuttleworth in Crossfield Road, Clacton.

After the defendant was arrested, Nutt continued to spit blood all over the back of the police car.

Scene - the incident took place in Crossfield Road, Clacton (Image: Google Street View)

At Chelmsford Crown Court on Tuesday, Nutt admitted one charge of assaulting an emergency worker and one charge of damaging a police cell belonging to Essex Police.

However, the court heard how Nutt had already been sentenced to the maximum number of 300 hours of unpaid work following a separate offence – dating back to 2018 – of supplying class A and class B drugs.

Sebastien Cox, prosecuting, said: “There’s an aggravating factor of deliberate spitting.

“One would imagine it is more than minor psychological alarm or distress.”

James Partridge, mitigating, said Nutt had shown he was getting his life in order and had a job lined up.

He said: “He has a job interview this afternoon.

“You’ve seen the background – in 2017 there was a driving matter, in 2018 there was a drugs matter.

“He really has, given the past convictions he’s had, been getting his life in order."

However, with Nutt already serving a two-year suspended sentence imposed by magistrates for his drug dealing conviction, Judge Alexander Mills imposed a suspended sentence which would run concurrently to the time Nutt is already serving.

Sentenced - Joshua Nutt already had a suspended sentence imposed for a separate offence which took place after he spat blood at the police officer (Image: Newsquest)

He said: “You are currently subject to the maximum number of hours of unpaid work, and you are subject to work with probation.

“These are things I would have done had I been sentencing you solely in relation to these matters.”

Judge Mills imposed a six-week prison sentence, suspended for one year, to run concurrent to his current sentence of two years suspended for two years.

“You need to move on with your life,” the judge added.