A THUG who spat in a police officer’s eye at a hospital and said he hoped she died of Covid-19 was jailed on Wednesday for 14 months.

Paul Bevins, 25, assaulted PC Anna Barzdik at Glasgow’s Queen Elizabeth University Hospital in May this year.

Bevins had earlier spat on another constable John McKechnie at Glasgow Central Station.

Bevins pleaded guilty to the assault of PC McKechnie and acting in a threatening or abusive manner.

The court heard an enraged Bevins was approached at the station by officers due to an unrelated matter.

Officers restrained Bevins against a police van during which he spat saliva at PC McKechnie’s cheek.

He was taken to the hospital amid claims he had taken 100 Valium tablets.

Bevins made racial and homophobic remarks towards officers en route to and in the hospital waiting area.

He threatened to spit on the officers and a spit guard was applied.

Prosecutor Mark Allan said: “He spat onto the spit guard and as a result, a small amount sprayed out and stuck PC Barzdik in the eye.

“He stated that he hoped she died of Covid.

“On being told that some of his saliva had landed on her face, the accused shouted ‘“o it didn’t you stupid cow’.”

The officers later received hepatitis B boosters and had blood samples taken for further analysis.

Lawyer Eddie Robertson, defending, told the court Bevins behaved “erratically” and was coping with the recent death of his mother.

He added: “Mr Bevins is disgusted and apologises to the officers who were just looking after him.”

Sheriff Sean Murphy QC called Bevins behaviour “disgraceful” when jailing him.

He said: “This was very serious as we are in the middle of a pandemic and police officers have extra duties because of that.

“The police were trying to assist you because of your condition.

“The fact you spat on officers is a horrific assault and is becoming all too common.

“The difficulty is the police officers are required to be tested and were taken off duty and may have been infected not just with Covid but other things as well.”