A MAN who caused a policeman to be injured by a hypodermic needle has been jailed for seven months.

The offender had been diagnosed with HIV and it took more than three months of treatment and blood tests before the officer was told he had not been infected.

Claudio Alfano, 55, a prisoner at Perth, appeared for sentencing at Dunfermline Sheriff Court on Tuesday.

He previously admitted that on May 3, at Beath View Road, Cowdenbeath, he acted culpably and recklessly having been arrested.

Having been asked by officers if he had any sharp objects, he failed to disclose he had an uncapped hypodermic needle in his pocket, whereby an officer was injured by the needle, exposing him to the risk of infectious disease.

Depute fiscal Sarah Lumsden told the court that police officers were called to the scene at 12.25am and found Alfano standing at the front door. He was told he was being arrested as a warrant had been granted for him.

When he was asked if there was anything sharp on his person and if he had any needles, he replied ‘no’ twice.

As one of the officers searched him, he received a needle stick injury to his thumb and it was known that Alfano had been diagnosed with HIV.

The policeman was put on a course of antibiotics and had three blood tests before being given the all-clear more than three months later.

The court was told Alfano was originally from Italy, where he had previously been jailed for various offences.

He had been living in Scotland on and off since the late 1990s, including spells in Dunfermline, said defence solicitor Stephen Morrison.

Sheriff Charles MacNair jailed Alfano for 216 days backdated to April 13 when he was taken into custody.