A second man was sentenced Thursday, January 27 in London to eight weeks in prison for having manhandled England's chief medical officer Chris Whitty, a leading player in the fight against Covid-19.
Read alsoAggression of the chief medical officer of England: a second man charged
After initially pleading not guilty, Jonathan Chew, 24, finally admitted on Thursday the offenses of intent to harass with threatening or abusive language and obstruction of police action with which he is charged.
He will also have to pay a total of one thousand pounds sterling (1200 euros).
With this firm prison sentence, he finds himself more heavily sanctioned than his friend Lewis Hughes, also 24, who was sentenced on July 30 to eight weeks in prison suspended and just over 300 pounds sterling (360 euros) fines and damages.
“We just wanted to take a selfie”
In videos shared widely on social media in late June, the two men are seen, laughing, touching Chris Whitty and putting their arms around his shoulders as he tries to pull away, obviously uncomfortable. The incident, which took place on June 27 in St James's Park, near the Prime Minister's Downing Street residence, prompted widespread calls for the professor to be given close protection.
In early July, the two defendants told the tabloid The Sun that they had no intention of harming Chris Whitty, who had become a familiar figure to Britons through his daily television appearances at the height of the pandemic.
“
We just wanted to take a selfie
,” explained Jonathan Chew while his friend apologized and explained that he had lost his job as a real estate agent following the broadcast of the video.
