Petition · past parliament
Make new law on terror or intent to spread dangerous viruses
Rejected
16 signatures
What the petition asks
I want the law to state that anyone threat to spread a virus or spitting coughing on someone should be charged with in tent to spread frear of a vius or abh to manslaughter
People are spitting coughing on others due to the virus covid 19 the kaw should state with such viruses that there should be law that reflects the dangerously virius.
If u have it and you spit cough on someone to cause the spread you should be charged with abh to manslaughter or intent to cause fear to others and sentencing needs to reflect this to protect society
If u have it and you spit cough on someone to cause the spread you should be charged with abh to manslaughter or intent to cause fear to others and sentencing needs to reflect this to protect society
Why it was rejected
It was not clear what the petition asked the UK Government or Parliament to do.
We understand that you want the Government to take action to increase penalties for people who intentionally seek to spread coronavirus, but it's not clear exaclty what you want the Government to do.
The Crown Prosecution Service has been clear that coughing on other people could be charged as common assault, and that such behaviour against emergency workers is punishable by up to 12 months in prison. Manslaughter and Actual Bodily Harm are already offences, and it would be up to the Crown Prosecution Service to decided if there were circumstances where intentionally spreading coronavirus could lead to being charged with one of these offences.
We have published a petition calling for mandatory jail sentence for assaulting (eg. spitting/coughing) emergency worker, which you might like to sign: Mandatory jail sentence for assaulting (eg. spitting/coughing) emergency worker
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
The Crown Prosecution Service has been clear that coughing on other people could be charged as common assault, and that such behaviour against emergency workers is punishable by up to 12 months in prison. Manslaughter and Actual Bodily Harm are already offences, and it would be up to the Crown Prosecution Service to decided if there were circumstances where intentionally spreading coronavirus could lead to being charged with one of these offences.
We have published a petition calling for mandatory jail sentence for assaulting (eg. spitting/coughing) emergency worker, which you might like to sign: Mandatory jail sentence for assaulting (eg. spitting/coughing) emergency worker
You can find out more about coronavirus and how you can protect yourself and others here:
www.gov.uk/coronavirus
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/
The Government has also created an online service to help you out what you can do if you’re struggling because of coronavirus: https://www.gov.uk/find-coronavirus-support
You can read NHS tips to help if you are worried about coronavirus here: https://www.nhs.uk/oneyou/every-mind-matters/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
You can read impartial analysis of the Government response to coronavirus and policy developments here: https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/coronavirus/
You may also be interested to know that because of the large number of petitions that have been started in relation to coronavirus, the Petitions Committee has been questioning the Government about its response to the coronavirus outbreak.
Find out more and watch the Committee put questions suggested by petitioners to Government Ministers and the Deputy Chief Medical Officer: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/news/145767/committee-question-deputy-chief-medical-officer-and-ministers-on-coronavirus-response/
Read letters asking further questions of Government Ministers: https://committees.parliament.uk/committee/326/petitions-committee/publications/3/correspondence/
Timeline
| 27 Mar 2020 | Petition opened for signatures |
| 11 May 2020 | Rejected by the Petitions Committee |
Key facts
Signatures
16
Status
Rejected
Rejected
11 May 2020
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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.