Colin James Whitby: Geraldton man given suspended jail sentence for spitting in police officer’s face

A Geraldton man who spat in a police officer’s face during an arrest after he was running in and out of traffic on Brand Highway while drunk has avoided jail. Colin James Whitby, 42, appeared in Geraldton Magistrates Court on Monday for sentencing after pleading guilty to assaulting a public officer. His defence lawyer argued in court that the police conduct during the incident was “very rough” and “disgraceful”. The court was told on April 28 about 6.45pm police were responding to a call about Whitby, who had been running in and out of traffic near a fuel station in Tarcoola Beach. Police prosecutor Sergeant Ross Gray said police had handcuffed Whitby, arresting him for disorderly behaviour while he was yelling at the officers. As he was being taken to a police car, Whitby lunged towards an officer and spat in his face, with the incident being captured on body-worn cameras. The court was previously told saliva entered the officer’s mouth and nose, and came into contact with his right eye, resulting in him needing to visit Geraldton Health Campus to be tested for possible diseases. Defence lawyer Fintan Roberts told the court on Monday that he had watched the footage from the incident and said “the conduct of the officers was disgraceful”. “They had gotten out and ran up to him screaming ‘come here now’ . . . they were very rough with him,” he said. When the spitting occurred, Mr Roberts said police had responded in a poor way. “They had thrown Mr Whitby on the boot of the car, put his hand on his throat, saying ‘don’t you spit on me you f...... dog… filthy piece of s...’,” he said. While Mr Roberts claimed the police response was poor, he noted that regardless, spitting on someone was a revolting act, and that Whitby had been intoxicated during the incident. Magistrate Angus Hockton noted that Whitby had a previous conviction for assaulting a public officer from back in 2014. “You felt you were being dealt with wrongly, but that doesn’t explain why you would spit at them,” he said. “If you are running in and out of Brand Highway because you were intoxicated, then the police should be concerned for you and others safety.” Mr Hockton sentenced Whitby to seven months imprisonment, suspended without conditions for 12 months.