Over recent months, at least a half dozen Canadians have been criminally charged for coughing pranks, allegedly directly contributing to the risk of spreading the virus amid the global health crisis.
According to Pascal Lévesque, president of the Quebec Bar criminal law advisory committee, courts will likely react severely coughing pranks perpetrators during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We can’t afford to be ‘funny’ about this,” said Pascal Lévesque in an interview with the Canadian Press. “I am under the impression that the courts wouldn’t be very sympathetic either. With all the publicity and the government’s opinions, in a proven case, the courts will certainly consider it an aggravating factor to have done so in the context of COVID. The ‘prank’ defence would be difficult to pass.”
There have been several coughing pranks reported since the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, some of which have even been filmed and posted online by their perpetrators.
Coughing Pranks: A Dangerous Trend
A 20-year-old from Alberta was charged with mischief after he allegedly participated in a social media prank involving licking products inside a shop for an online video. In a Facebook post, Taber Police described this prank as a “serious breach of good citizenship.”
There have also been reported incidents of coughing pranks where people deliberately coughed on police officers amid the pandemic, with at least five Canadians having now been charged with coughing as assault.
A 24-year-old man was charged in B.C. with assaulting a peace officer after he allegedly spit on officers while being arrested. This trend has been seen in Alberta, where a 48-year-old man is facing similar charges after an alleged coughing prank on an officer on April 5. The man told police he had the virus, and “coughed intentionally into an officer’s face and again when escorted to the police car.”
Canadian Police Association president Tom Stamatakis said threats of spreading COVID-19 are “very, very serious,” regardless of whether the coughing prank perpetrator actually has the virus.
“Our members are already operating with a heightened sense of anxiety as it is,” according to Stamatakis. “Not just anxiety for themselves in terms of being exposed and potentially infected, but also because of the potential risks to their families as well.”
The COVID-19 coughing “pranks” are not only targeting police and shopkeepers. In Edmonton, a man was charged with assault on April 5, after he coughed on a bus driver and the transit officers who responded to break up the altercation. The perpetrator claimed to have tested positive for COVID-19.
Another coughing prank occurred in New Brunswick, where two men were charged with assault after they allegedly deliberately coughed on neighbours in a rooming house. The men had recently travelled to the Dominican Republic, and neighbours complained that they were not quarantining themselves.
In Quebec, provincial police arrested a 20-year-old man for a coughing prank after he deliberately coughed on a card machine at a drive through terminal. The perpetrator posted the video of himself coughing on social media. Once online, the video was reported by Internet users to police authorities.
Legal Consequences
Pascal Lévesque says that actions that would have normally been mundane before the pandemic, such as coughing pranks, can be grounds for an arrest during the COVID-19 crisis. According to him, such pranks can lead to a slippery slope of dangerous behaviour.
Lévesque warns that in the worst case scenario, coughing pranks could result in a charge of criminal negligence causing death, if the victim of the act had underlying health conditions and the infection turned out fatal. Such an offence is punishable by life imprisonment.
However, Lévesque points out, the intentions of a coughing prank perpetrator carries significant weight in such matters. “There is a difference between a person who makes a very bad joke and a person who suffers from mental health problems, which could explain [his gesture],” continues Lévesque. Where there is a definite plan to infect another person with COVID-19, the risk of being charged with an offence is higher.
Lévesque likens these coughing pranks to the “bad jokers” who talk about a bomb in their suitcases as they go through airport security: it is a joke better left unsaid, and in our case, gestures better left undone.
“I strongly discourage people from testing the limits of the justice system,” said Lévesque. “Crown prosecutors take this very seriously in the current context […] People need to have a lot of respect and seriousness about these actions.”
What do you think about law enforcement reactions to COVID-19 coughing pranks? Have you been the victim of a COVID-19 coughing prank? Share your experiences with us in the comments below!
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