Coronavirus: Man Jailed Following Cambridge Assault

A man from Cambridge who launched a violent attack on his wife following a coronavirus-fuelled row has been jailed.

Mark Palmer, 55, invited a friend to his home in the city whilst his wife was out at the shops last Wednesday (1st April).

When the wife returned home at about 2.30pm, she found Palmer and his friend drinking beer together in the kitchen.

The woman told Palmer that if he wanted to do that, he could not stay in the home, out of fear he was not following the self-isolation guidance and could be putting her at risk of catching coronavirus.

An argumment broke out and Palmer assaulted the woman, who is in her 40s, a number of times, grabbing her head and pushing her to the floor.

Palmer then poured beer over the victim and threw her plants across the room.

When officers arrived, they found the pair sitting in the street with Palmer pleading that they “had only had a domestic.”

As one officer attempted to arrest Palmer, he assaulted them in the face before standing in a boxer-type stance with his fists by his face.

When a second officer tried to intervene and detain Palmer, he assaulted them too and escaped to the garden before re-emerging with a concrete block lifted above his head.

He attempted to chase police with the block before officers used PAVA spray which caused him to stop and subsequently drop the block when instructed.

As he was arrested, he spat on both officers and said “I’m going to give you all coronavirus” before making a homophobic comment.

When Palmer was searched, he was also found in possession of cannabis.

Palmer, of Edinburgh Road, Cambridge, admitted to common assault, two counts of criminal damage, two counts of assault by beating against an emergency worker, possession of class B drugs and an offence under Section 4A of the Public Order Act.

He was sentenced to 42 weeks in prison at Peterborough Magistrates’ Court on Friday.