HIV claim of man who spat at PC

A MAN who spat in the face of a policeman trying to help him, said he was HIV positive.

Yassa Altaf (28) later retracted the claim but the officer is still having to undergo tests and complete a course of tablets.

Magistrates in Manchester heard that Altaf had fallen and cut his head and nose after a drinking binge in the city centre on December 23.

Altaf, of Fern Street, Oldham, began shouting and screaming at passers-by and was arrested.

It was while the officer was trying to treat him in the street that he spat in his face, said prosecutor Jennifer Baines.

Altaf pleaded guilty to a charge of common assault on the officer on a reckless basis.

Alex Preston, defending, said Altaf maintained that he had been spitting blood out of his mouth and some of it had landed on the victim.

“Altaf accepts that it was a very unpleasant incident but it wasn’t deliberate and it’s totally untrue that he is HIV positive.

“He only said that because he thought the police would let him go. His family is disgusted and ashamed that he made such a claim”, said Miss Preston.

But the officer said the spitting was deliberate and it was “highly unlikely” some of the blood had gone in his mouth, the court heard.

The case was adjourned until April 4 for a hearing to decide which version the court accepted before passing sentence.

Altaf, who hopes to resume studying for a law degree, also admitted possessing cannabis and being drunk and disorderly.