Estate agent’s mate who assaulted Whitty ‘faces jail’ says judge
Jonathan Chew, who with friend Lewis Hughes assaulted the Chief Medical Officer last July, has been told he must wear a tag until his next hearing later this month.
An estate agent’s friend accused of assaulting newly knighted chief medical officer Chris Whitty has been warned he could face a jail sentence.
Jonathan Chew, 24, from Chelmsford, denies the assault after he and his friend, former estate agent Lewis Hughes, 24, from Romford, filmed themselves beside Whitty, as he walked through St James’s Park in Westminster on 27th June last year.
Chew appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court where senior district judge Paul Goldspring adjourned the trial until 27th January.
Defending, Rabah Kherbane reminded the court of background to the case where at the last hearing Chew’s former solicitor had withdrawn due to being “professionally embarrassed.”
Autism
He said Chew has a number of conditions including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder and autism which would make it difficult for him to follow proceedings.
Chew was told he would be fitted with an electronic tag, keeping him at home between 9pm and 4am due to concerns about him not being at the address. Judge Goldspring warned: “Mr Chew should be aware that Mr Kherbane has rightfully said there is a very real possibility there could be a custodial sentence.”
Hughes (pictured) admitted a charge of assault by beating in July last year and was handed an eight-week jail term suspended for two years. He was labelled “yobbish” by the same judge and was criticised for leaving Sir Chris “humiliated”. Hughes lost his job at property firm Caplen Estates just hours after his bosses saw the footage on social media.
Hughes revealed that the friends had been drinking after attending one of the several anti-vaccination gatherings in London that weekend. In a video they published online, Whitty was seen being manhandled during the rowdy interaction and appeared to be put into a headlock.
