Man sentenced for spitting in Jeremy Corbyn’s face during first wave of Covid pandemic

Gerald Dore was given a 18-month community order and 80 hours of unpaid work

A man who spat in the face of Jeremy Corbyn in the early weeks of the coronavirus pandemic during a dispute over crossing the road has been sentenced. The former Labour leader was out on a bike ride with wife Laura Alvarez in May of last year when he gestured to Gerald Dore, allowing him to cross the road in front of them. Dore, 56, from Holloway in Islington, responded with abusive language towards the couple, later spitting in Corbyn's face. Sentenced at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday, Dore was given a 18-month community order with 80 hours of unpaid work and was also ordered to pay £150 compensation to Corbyn and £100 to Alvarez. "At a time the country was reeling from the effects of Covid-19, Dore without provocation spat in the face of a prominent member of Parliament and during an expletive ridden onslaught, physically threatened Ms Alvarez," said Rob Hutchinson of the Crown Prosecution Service. "This successful prosecution should put no one in any doubt that we will take firm action against those who abuse others in this way and, in this case, our elected officials and their families, who should be able to go about their personal business without being put in fear."