Bilsthorpe man sent to Crown Court for butting and kicking police after arrest

Police were called to Ratcliffe Gate, Mansfield, after reports of a man breaking into a van on April 15 at about 11pm, Mansfield Magistrates’ Court heard, where they found Andrew Bembridge.

Nicole Baughan, prosecuting, said Bembridge “almost immediately” became obstructive when he was handcuffed and arrested on suspicion of theft from a vehicle, but he was not charged,

However, on the way to Mansfield Police Station he began butting the van window, and, as an officer tried to restrain him, Bembridge flung his head back and connected with the officer's cheekbone.

At the station, he continued to be obstructive and began banging his head on the cell floor, Ms Baughan said.

And when a second officer tried to restrain him Bembridge kicked him in the chest with enough force to knock him backwards.

Bembridge, aged 35, of New Road, Bilsthorpe, admitted two counts of assaulting emergency workers.

The court heard the offences put him in breach of a 12-month community order with unpaid work imposed by magistrates on April 4 for common assault and assaulting a police officer, on December 23, last year.

Ian Pridham, mitigating, said the magistrates have adequate powers to deal with him for the two new assaults.

However, because Bembridge faces separate charges, as well as the breach, any sentence they impose might limit what a judge can order at later date.

Bembridge was bailed to appear at Nottingham Crown Court on May 30.