A Craigavon man who assaulted police and ambulance staff and damaged an ambulance was remanded into custody Friday.
Although defence counsel Joel Lindsay told the town’s Magistrates Court, which is sitting in Lisburn due to Covid-19 restrictions, that 30-year-old Robert Wilson wanted to admit the charges against him, a prosecuting lawyer said she could not accept a plea at this stage.
She revealed that the assistant director in the PPS has ordered that any cases “involving spitting at ambulance staff or any other people in such professions have to be sent to central and the assistant director” so that a full file can be compiled.
Wilson, from Ardowen, appeared in court via videolink from police custody to face four charges – assaulting an ambulance worker, causing criminal damage to an ambulance and two counts of assaulting police on 23 July this year.
None of the facts surrounding the offences were opened in court but Detective Constable Flynn said she believed she can connect Wilson to each of the offences.
While Mr Lindsay repeated that “it’s a plea” and asked for the case to be put back to Wednesday, the prosecutor said she was constrained by PPS directions to elevate spitting cases but she hoped there might be progress by mid week.
Remanding Wilson into custody, District Judge Amanda Brady queried why there would have to be a full file “if he is going to plead?”
