SUNDERLAND, UK — Just four days after being released from prison, Dominic Goldsmith, 25, has been jailed for 12 weeks for spitting on a police officer and possessing drugs in Sunderland city centre.
Goldsmith was arrested on Salem Street on Saturday, July 12, after officers found him with three bags of white powder. He told police he believed the substance to be Class A cocaine, but forensic testing revealed it to be amphetamine, a less serious Class B drug.
At Southwick police station, Goldsmith became agitated when officers attempted to move him to a different holding cell. During the confrontation, he spat on a police officer, with the saliva landing on the officer’s bare arm.
Prosecutor Jonathan Stirland described the act as “disgusting,” noting Goldsmith’s extensive criminal history of 34 convictions from 77 offences, dating back to 2017.
While Goldsmith pleaded guilty to both drug possession and assault by beating of an emergency worker, his defense solicitor Alastair Naismith stated that the act was done “out of spite” and added that Goldsmith was currently homeless.
District Judge Zoe Passfield sentenced Goldsmith to 12 weeks in custody for the assault and issued no separate penalty for the drug offense. He was also ordered to pay £50 in compensation to the officer.
The judge emphasized that spitting on emergency workers is always treated as a serious offense, especially considering the timing—just days after his release from prison.
