A man assaulted four police officers before smearing his own poo on a CCTV camera in his custody cell, a court heard.
Craig Smith, 28, of Unity House, Wood Lane, appeared at Salisbury Magistrates’ Court on Wednesday where he pleaded guilty to a public order offence, two counts of criminal damage, and four counts of assaulting an emergency worker.
The court heard police officers were called to a report of a disorder at Unity House, a hostel for the homeless in Chippenham, at around 1.30am on Tuesday morning.
Staff at the premises had called police due to Smith, who was intoxicated, shouting abuse at them and refusing to leave.
While being arrested, Smith physically assaulted four police officers – two male and two female – by kicking and scratching them, leaving them with visible injuries to their hands, arms and backs. He was also verbally abusive.
Then, while he was being held in a cell in the custody suite at Melksham Police Station, he defecated on the floor and intentionally smeared the faeces on a CCTV camera.
Smith was remanded in custody to appear before Salisbury Magistrates Court on 14 June for sentence.
Inspector Louis McCoy, from Wiltshire Police, said: “It is completely unacceptable that these police officers had to put up with a torrent of verbal abuse, followed by physical assaults, all in the course of their duty.
“This was then followed by custody staff having to deal with Smith’s disgusting actions while he was held in a cell.
“Our police officers and staff come to work to serve their communities and protect the public and should not have to be subjected to this kind of violent behaviour.”
