Ex-Portsmouth and West Brom player convicted of coughing at police and claiming he had coronavirus

James Hurst was arrested in the garden of a woman’s home in Glasgow’s Drumchapel in April, according to a BBC report.

The 28-year-old admitted acting in a threatening or abusive manner towards the officers.

Prosecutor Mark Allan said: ‘He immediately stated: “I've got Covid. I'm going to cough and spit all over you.”

‘At that point, he began to cough in the faces of both officers as they were placing handcuffs on him.

‘As he did this, he shouted: “Have that.”’

England youth international Hurst was reportedly an Arsenal and Manchester United target when he signed for Pompey’s Academy from West Brom in the summer of 2008.

However, the closest he came to the first-team was an unused substitute in a League Cup game against Hereford in August 2009.

He also ran into trouble at Fratton Park when he was fined and banned following a Facebook post which wished Pompey defeat against Arsenal in August 2009. The Blues lost 4-1, although Hurst denied posting it on his profile.

Following the right-back’s release in the summer of 2010, he embarked on a nomadic career, featuring for West Brom, Blackpool, Shrewsbury, Chesterfield, Crawley and Northampton in the Football League.

He dropped into non-league in 2014, again racking up a large number of clubs, and recently represented Hednesford before leaving by mutual consent in January 2020.

Sheriff Tony Kelly deferred sentence until the end of the month for background reports.

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