A MAN has made a remote appearance in court after being arrested for drunkenly coughing at a police officer while breaking strict lockdown prohibitions.
Joshua Robinson has been charged with two counts of assault on an emergency worker and being drunk and disorderly in a public place after an alleged incident in Hartlepool on Tuesday.
The 23-year-old, of Tommy McGuigan Grove, Hartlepool, was due to appear before a district judge at Teesside Magistrates Court this morning.
However, due to concerns about his health, the defendant agreed to be remanded in custody over mobile phone from a police station cell while a police officer held it through a hatch on the door.
Judge Helen Cousins told Robinson that he would appear before the same court tomorrow via videolink to face the charges.
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