Prof Chris Whitty: Second man charged with common assault

Jonathan Chew was charged on Monday over the incident in St James's Park

A second man has been charged with common assault after England's chief medical officer Prof Chris Whitty was accosted in a London park.

Jonathan Chew, 24, from Chelmsford, Essex, was charged on Monday over the incident, which took place in St James's Park on 27 June.

Officers spoke to the uninjured victim and checked his welfare, a Met Police spokesman said.

They then reviewed video footage that emerged on social media.

Mr Chew was also charged with obstructing police and appeared at Westminster Magistrates' Court on Tuesday afternoon.

• Chris Whitty: The man with our lives in his hands

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Lewis Hughes, 23, of Wigton Way in Romford, east London, was charged with common assault last week.

Mr Hughes previously apologised for any "upset" caused and said he had lost his job as an estate agent over the incident.

"If I made [Prof Whitty] feel uncomfortable, which it does look like I did, then I am sorry to him for that," he told the Sun.

Estate agent Lewis Hughes was charged last week with common assault

Police previously said that when they spoke to Prof Whitty at the time he did not wish to make any allegations.

It was not the first time Prof Whitty has been filmed being confronted by a member of the public.

Earlier this month, a man in Oxford accused him of lying to the public about coronavirus, while in February a man accosted the chief medical officer in Westminster.

And a group of people gathered outside what was apparently Prof Whitty's London flat on Saturday, chanting and shouting.

Mr Hughes and Mr Chew will both appear before Westminster magistrates again on 30 July.

Who is Prof Chris Whitty?

Prof Chris Whitty (left) has regularly appeared alongside the PM at televised Covid briefings

Since the start of the coronavirus crisis, he has been front and centre of the UK's decision-making and communication of messages to the public.

He took on the chief medical officer role in October 2019, and until the coronavirus threat emerged, had never done broadcast interviews or held press briefings or conferences.

One of the country's foremost experts in infectious diseases, he has worked as a doctor in Africa and Asia, as well as the UK.

He continues to practise medicine at University College London Hospitals, where he was spotted doing a shift over Christmas.

His mother was a teacher and his father was a diplomat who was murdered by terrorists in Greece after they flagged him down in his car in 1984.