South Shields man who 'boasted' about infecting PC jailed

Freddie Newman was jailed for multiple offences

A prolific thief who boasted about giving a police officer hepatitis C after she was jabbed with a needle has been jailed for four years.

Heavily convicted Freddie Newman attacked the female PC while he was being restrained at a hospital, Newcastle Crown Court heard.

A judge said tests would not reveal if the officer had been infected until later in 2024.

Newman, 33, of South Shields, admitted multiple offences including assault.

The court heard he was struggling violently with officers at Sunderland's Royal Hospital on 3 June 2023 when the female PC was stabbed in the hand by his cannula.

In a statement read to the court, she said after Newman realised she had been "stuck with a needle", he "boasted" she had been infected with hepatitis C.

The officer said she had had to undergo tests for both hepatitis C and HIV but would not have a definitive answer until later in 2024, adding the worry was "constantly on [her] mind".

Judge Mallett said while it was accepted that Newman had not deliberately stabbed the officer, he was being "deliberately violent" and the effects and fear of what happened would be "hanging over [the officer] for a long period of time".

Newman told the court he did not have any infectious diseases, but the judge said she could understand why the officer would still be fearful.

Newman also admitted stealing food worth £250, as well as a £49 pancake maker from a fish and chip shop on 30 April.

He was found guilty of stealing a barmaid's phone and purse from the Queen Victoria pub in Gosforth, Newcastle, and fraudulently using her credit card to buy goods worth £75 on 20 May.

He and two associates, Grant Hunter, 46, and Gemma Campbell, 39, admitted handling stolen goods taken during a house burglary on 12 June.

Grant Hunter and Gemma Campbell were also jailed for handling stolen goods with Newman

A couple and their baby were at home when burglars took their car, a watch worth £2,500, credit cards, a mobile phone and mountain bike.

The phone was quickly traced by police to Downham Court in South Shields where all three defendants lived at the time, with Newman later admitting five counts of fraud for using one of the stolen cards.

The woman whose house was burgled said it had terrified the family, with her partner having to sleep at the top of the stairs in case the intruders returned.

Judge Mallett said the burglary had had a "serious impact" on the family in "emotional, practical and economic turns".

Newman, of Soane Gardens, also admitted four breaches of a restraining order banning him going to his grandmother's home in Jarrow.

Campbell admitted assaulting a shop worker at B&M on 21 March who she pushed and spat in the face of while he was escorting her from the premises for suspected shoplifting.

She also admitted breaching a two-year suspended prison sentence imposed in 2022 for a burglary of a secure home where she was apprehended by elderly residents.

Jailing Newman for four years, Hunter for three years and four months, and Campbell for two years and 10 months, Judge Mallett said all three were "heavily convicted" and had a "common thread" of drug addiction.

The judge said the trio had recently made "good progress in addressing those problems" while in prison, and each was "currently well-motivated" to continue their work.

A restraining order was made banning all three from contacting the burglary victims or entering the street where they lived.