A man who spat in a police van must pay for the cost of deep-clean, court rules.
Thame Pilgrim, 34, appeared at Swindon Magistrates’ Court on Friday charged with one count of criminal damage to a police vehicle days before Christmas.
It was the crown’s case that whilst under arrest on suspicion of breach of the peace in Swindon, the defendant, of no fixed abode in Reading, spat at the walls of the police van cell on 18 December 2020.
Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this resulted in a deep-clean being carried out before the vehicle could be used for further operational purposes – with a cost to Wiltshire Police of £50.
Pilgrim admitted the offence, but his solicitor Liz Highams said he’d acted out after an argument with others and suggested the police may have aggravated the situation.
She said her client had not been in any trouble since the incident.
Magistrates made a compensation order, forcing Pilgrim to pick up the cost of the clean.
