An estate agent from east London has been handed a suspended sentence and told to pay fines and compensation totalling £307 after admitting he assaulted chief medical officer Chris Whitty in a central London park.
Lewis Hughes, aged 24, pleded guilty to a charge of common assault in relation to the incient in St James' Park on 27 June, which came to national prominance after footage was shared on social media.
Hughes, of Wigton Way, Romford, was handed an eight-week custodial sentence suspended for two years and told to pay £307 – including £100 compensation to Whitty – at Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday.
A second man – 24-year-old Jonathan Chew of Parklands Way, Chelmsford – pleaded not guilty to charges of asssaut by beating and obstructing police in relation to the incident. He is due to stand trial in November.
Footage of the incident showed two men grabbing and jeering at Whitty when he was accosted in the park, prompting calls for the police to take action and even for police protection for the chief medical officer.
The Metropolitan Police said officers had been alerted to the incident while it was in progress and did not believe Whitty had beeen harmed. The Crown Prosecution Service said the chief medic had been on his way to meet the prime minister at 10 Downing Street when he was accosted.
Prosecuor Luke Staton told magistrates on Friday that Whitty had described himself as having been placed in a “loose headlock” by one of his assailants, who appeared to be Hughes. Hughes had earlier said he had wanted a “selfie” with the chief medical officer.
After the hearing senior CPS prosecutor Kalsoom Shah said Whitty had been the victim of “completely unacceptable" behaviour that no public servant should be subjected to.
“Lewis Hughes showed little regard for him or relevant social-distancing rules when he accosted the government’s chief medical officer in the street. His behaviour was both shocking and disgraceful,” Shah said.
“Like everyone else, public figures should be free to go about their day-to-day work without fear of being targeted and assaulted. The CPS will always work with the police to bring to justice those who break the law in this way.”
The St James' Park assault was the latest in a number of incidents in which Whitty, who has been one of the most prominent civil servants involved in the response to the coronavirus pandemic, has been publicly accosted.
Earlier in June, footage emerged of Whitty being harrangued in the street in Oxford, where he was attending a G7 health summit.
In February, a video of Whitty being verbally abused by a teenage boy was shared on social-media site TikTok.