Covid: HSE inspector cleared of pandemic cough assault

Simon Hough was cleared by a sheriff

A Health and Safety Executive inspector has been cleared of assaulting a fellow driver by coughing at him at the start of the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

Simon Hough, 62, of Inverurie, became involved in an incident with Jordan Clarkson who he was parked alongside in the Aberdeenshire town on 1 April 2020.

The 27-year-old told Aberdeen Sheriff Court that Mr Hough coughed at him deliberately through his open window.

Mr Hough said he had cleared his throat nervously while feeling threatened.

A sheriff found him not guilty.

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The incident happened in the car park at M&S Simply Food in Inverurie while the two men's cars were close to each other.

"He coughed in my face", Mr Clarkson told fiscal depute Alan Townsend. "He purposely coughed all over me, two or three times.

"You could tell it was a fake cough, it was almost mocking me.

"This was when Covid was out and no-one really knew what was going on."

'Extreme stress'

Passenger Finlay Coghill, 25, said the coughing seemed "very intentional" and was when everyone was "very stressed out" about the pandemic.

Giving evidence, Mr Hough told defence counsel David Moggach he was recovering from open heart surgery at the time of the incident.

He said he was standing at his car waiting for his wife when Mr Clarkson's car repeatedly drove close to his feet.

He denied he had deliberately coughed at Mr Clarkson, during a "quite aggressive" situation.

"I was under extreme stress and my throat was dry and I cleared my throat but I did not cough," he said.

Sheriff David Mackie said he found Mr Hough to be an honest witness and found him not guilty.