An estate agent has lost his job after he was shown in a video grabbing England chief medical officer Chris Whitty in an incident that drew widespread condemnation.
Lewis Hughes and Jonathan Chew, both 24, were labelled “thugs” by Prime Minister Boris Johnson after the video of the public official being apparently harassed went viral on social media.
It showed the two men laughing and jeering as they grabbed hold of Prof Whitty in St James’s Park in central London. The senior civil servant struggled to free himself as he attempted to walk away from the pair.
The men were attending an anti-vaccine march when they spotted Prof Whitty, according to a newspaper interview.
Mr Hughes, who worked for Caplen Estates in Essex, told The Sun that he had “paid the price with my job”.
“I absolutely apologise for any upset I caused,” he said.
“If I made him feel uncomfortable, which it does look like I did, then I am sorry to him for that.”
Mr Chew said he only wanted a photograph with Prof Whitty.
“We just saw him, and thought, ‘That’s the guy from the TV. He’s famous’,” he said.
Police are investigating the incident but the pair said they have not been charged. Prof Whitty is understood not to have made a formal complaint.
On Tuesday, Mr Johnson said he was "shocked at seeing the despicable harassment" of Prof Whitty.
"I condemn the behaviour of these thugs," he said.
"Our hard-working public servants should not have to face this kind of intimidation on our streets and we will not tolerate it."
Home Secretary Priti Patel said Prof Whitty could be given personal protection officers and it was reported it was the third incident in which he had been confronted in the street. Prof Whitty's father was a diplomat who was shot dead by terrorists while working in Greece.
