A man who removed his mask and deliberately coughed on an employee at a Calgary bar last year has been convicted of assault.
In a decision released last week, Provincial Court Judge Heather Lamoureux ruled that the projection of these lung air molecules could be considered a use of force under the Criminal Code.
“The cough was not a reflex action, but rather an intentional physical act,” wrote Mme The lover.
The man, identified in the decision as Kyle Pruden, 35, was also convicted of assaulting a bar patron.
Court records show he received a conditional discharge and two years probation for the two assault cases.
The events took place in November 2020 at the Black Swan Pub in Calgary.
Kyle Pruden was in the pub playing on a video lottery terminal when he went to the bar to cash in around $ 160 in winnings, according to the court document.
Cayla Cossette, the employee, told Kyle Pruden that she was unable to pay the winnings because the bar owner had not replenished the cash.
She testified that she was behind the bar when the accused coughed in her direction from within two meters of her.
A 60-year-old regular at the bar gave Kyle Pruden $ 60 and he left the pub.
Returning to the establishment a little later, Kyle Pruden saw the bar customer again, and believing it to be an employee, he demanded the rest of his money.
The bar owner told him he had no more money to pay him and Kyle Pruden hit the customer.
In her ruling, the judge noted that there have been three other cases where people have been sentenced after coughing on other individuals during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Mme Lamoureux relied on the scientific consensus of the World Health Organization that COVID-19 is transmitted by respiratory droplets, which a person carrying the virus expels by coughing.