‘I didn’t mean to spit at the cop’

A teenager accused of spitting a police officer outside the Houses of Parliament claims it was an accident, a court heard. Owen Kelly, 19, is said to have assaulted Inspector Alistair Phillips on Parliament Street during the second lockdown last 28 November. Kelly appeared in the dock at Westminster Magistrates’ Court wearing a grey hoody, supported by a family member as he denied assault by beating. He opted to have his trial heard at the crown court. Julian Young, defending,…