Jail for man who farted in face of police officer

A man who broke wind in the face of a police officer and branded him a terrorist has been jailed after ignoring his court sentence. Malcolm Gill, of Dalton, west Yorkshire, admitted the charge of racially-aggravated harassment plus other offenses in February. Kirklees magistrates gave him a community order as a direct alternative to custody. But that order failed to get off the ground and Gill was charged with breaching the order. He failed to show for his trial on this and a warrant was issued for his arrest. At his original hearing magistrates heard that Gill was on bail for three shop thefts when he was told to report to Huddersfield Police Station. He turned up a day late on January 16 and appeared agitated while at the front desk. He thrashed around and turned his backside towards one of the officers. The 46-year-old broke wind twice in the face of the officer and told him: “You black bastard, you terrorist.”
Magistrates sentenced him to a 12-month community order with 30 days of activities and a one-month curfew. Gill was found guilty after a trial on September 19 of failing to show up for two appointments. He appeared in court on Wednesday after being arrested when he missed his trial. Ian Whiteley, mitigating, said: “The order was made as a direct alternative to custody, he’s only attended one appointment.
“It’s now seven months later and there’s been no progress with the order. He has a longstanding drugs issue. He was in hospital for six weeks and part of that time covered the breach period. Mr Gill wants a rehab place as an in-patient but there’s no funding available.” Mr Whitely said that while his client did accept most of his behavior towards police at the station, he disputed some of the language he is said to have used. Magistrates jailed Gill for a total of 18 weeks.