Man faces 3 years in jail after farting in police officer’s face

A UK man has been jailed for nearly three years after farting in a police officer’s face.

According to several news reports, Matthew Hapgood was apprehended for shoplifting on March 21. The 41-year-old was arrested for nicking 33-pounds worth of beer and cider from Tesco, but during the course of his arrest, Hapgood farted in an officer’s face.

When police arrested Hapgood he “broke wind in the officer’s face during the course of that arrest,” a court heard on August 26.

Hapgood pleaded guilty to robbery, shoplifting, possession of a bladed article and criminal damage at Oxford Crown Court.

Judge Ian Pringle QC handed him a sentence for 34 months in jail.

The judge also told the court how Hapgood had a lengthy history with crime. “You have a lengthy history, no less than 31 previous convictions for 83 offences, all really to do with a drug or alcohol addiction which has been with you for most of your adult life,” he said, according to Ladbible.

This case, while rare, is certainly not unique. In 2020, one man in Austria was handed a heavy fine of 500 euros for farting near police officers. The year before that, a Scottish man made the news for farting provocatively at cops during a strip search.