A woman who spat in the face of a police officer has been jailed.

Marcia Massey, of Hatfield Crescent, Hemel Hempstead, appeared at Luton Crown Court on Thursday after pleading guilty in December 2020 to one count of assaulting a police constable.

The court heard how police were called to a disturbance at Massey’s home address on the evening of Saturday, June 20, last year.

On arrival, Massey, 42, exited the address and began behaving aggressively.

While officers were detaining her, the defendant proceeded to spit in the face of a female police constable.

Massey was jailed for three months on Thursday.

Chief Superintendent Richard Liversidge, who leads the Local Policing Command at Hertfordshire Constabulary, said: “Spitting in someone’s face is abhorrent behaviour in any context, let alone during a global pandemic. The affected officer is a student constable and was understandably shocked when she realised what Massey had done.

“Our teams have been working hard on the frontline since the start of this pandemic, prioritising public safety above their own and delivering a full police service in the most challenging circumstances. I am incredibly proud of them and the resilience they show every day over what has been a challenging twelve months.

“It is never acceptable for police officers, staff or any other emergency worker to be assaulted while performing their duties, so I am pleased to see the offender in this case receive a custodial sentence. Such behaviour will not be tolerated and we will not hesitate to take immediate action against anyone who behaves in this manner.”