A man has been given another immediate prison sentence for assaulting a Carlisle taxi driver just weeks after spitting in the faces of two police officers.
PCs were initially called to a city centre bail hostel just before midnight on May 25 in response to reports that Elijah Ali, 33, was drunk and being confrontational. Ali was residing there after being released from a 21-week prison sentence having previously breached a restraining order.
Carlisle Crown Court heard there was concern that Ali had taken an excess of prescription medication. He was resisting police, lashing out, threatening to knock them out and bite them.
Ali spat directly into the face of one male PC who had to wait for a chance to wash his face. Ali was restrained and placed in a spit hood to prevent any repeat. But when this hood was removed at hospital, he also spat in the face of a female PC.
Hospital staff refused to treat Ali due to his aggression. But when he was taken to a police station, a police sergeant refused to book him in and he was returned to hospital.
“All in all it was thought the whole incident took up one hour and 45 minutes of police time,” prosecutor Steven Ball told the court.
He summarised an impact statement provided by the male officer, saying: “All he was trying to do was to get the defendant to hospital. He would rather be physically assaulted than spat at in the face, which he considered to be dirty and possibly contagious.”
Having been bailed, Ali got into more trouble on June 27 as he entered a taxi at Carlisle’s Court Square. Ali appeared intoxicated, causing concern to the taxi driver who was grabbed by the throat and punched in the stomach.
As police were called, Ali, of no fixed address, then tried to bite one officer.
He admitted four separate assaults and was said to need intensive support to treat personal problems. Ali, of no fixed address, was sentenced to five months’ imprisonment today by a judge who called his conduct utterly shameful.
