Gavel on desk -- LNN

By The Canadian Press

Intentionally coughing on someone results in assault conviction

Nov 5, 2021 | 12:56 PM

CALGARY, AB. — A man who removed his mask and deliberately coughed on a server at a Calgary bar last year has been convicted of assault.

In a decision released last week, provincial court Judge Heather Lamoureux wrote that emitting a force consisting of lung-air molecules can qualify as the use of force under the Criminal Code.

She says the cough was not a reflexive action, but rather an intentional physical act.

The man, 35-year-old Kyle Pruden, was also found guilty of assaulting a bar patron.

He received a conditional discharges and two years probation.

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The court decision says the altercations happened in November 2020 at the Black Swan Pub.

Pruden was playing on a video lottery terminal when he went to the bar to cash out his winnings.

An employee told Pruden that she was unable to pay out because there wasn’t enough cash.

The worker testified that Pruden then took off his mask and started coughing at her and uttered “is this because of COVID?”