Jaymaine Heron on trial for blowing his nose in tissue and throwing it at police officer

A young man’s runny nose has landed him in court after he blew his nose on a tissue – then allegedly threw it at a police officer. Watch the incident here.

Is blowing your nose on a tissue and throwing it at a police officer assault?

This is the question an Adelaide Magistrate has been left to ponder after presiding over an unusual trial.

Jaymaine Heron, 24, from Paradise was charged with assaulting an emergency services worker during the incident on August 29, 2020 at the Adelaide Remand Centre.

During a trial last week Magistrate Ed Stratton-Smith viewed footage of the incident, which has since been released to The Advertiser.

The footage from a body-worn camera shows Mr Heron in a cell at the Adelaide Remand Centre.

He continuously asks the police officer to leave the room and descends into abusing him.

During the trial, Mr Stratton-Smith heard the police officer was required to monitor Mr Heron and stay in the room for “constant observation”.

Jaymaine Heron seen in the court-released video. Picture: Courts.

Jaymaine Heron, who is charged with assaulting a police officer after blowing his nose on a tissue and allegedly throwing it at him. Picture: Courts.

The footage shows Mr Heron holding a tissue in his hand.

He stands up and approaches the officer with the footage becoming unsteady as Mr Heron is pinned against a wall.

Another police officer enters the room to check on the pair and the alleged victim says “he just flicked a bloody dirty tissue at me”.

The prosecution allege Mr Heron had blown his nose on the tissue and threw it at the officer, hitting him to the right side of the face.

Over the following minutes Mr Heron can be seen touching his face with another tissue, telling the officer he needed to clean his own face.

The footage shows Mr Heron hitting his head against the wall of a cell and a senior officer being called.

“I’ve got a lot of prisoners to look after and I’m not going to put up with behaving like a f***ing baby,” he said.

“If you are going to behave like a baby I am going to drag you downstairs, strip you and put you in a padded cell. If you want to behave like an animal you will be treated like an animal.”

Jaymaine Heron is charged with assaulting a police officer after blowing his nose on a tissue and throwing it at him. Picture: Courts.

Mr Heron was taken to the cells and forcibly stripped before being placed in a padded cell.

During the trial Mr Heron’s lawyer asked Mr Stratton-Smith to watch the entire video of the incident, not just the small portion containing alleged assault.

A prosecutor opposed Mr Stratton-Smith watching the entire video, saying the confronting footage of Mr Heron being dragged to the cell and stripped was not relevant to the charge.

Mr Stratton-Smith indicated he would be watching the whole video but would take into account the relevance of the footage.

He will hand down his verdict later this month.