A MAN has been jailed after he spat in the face of a volunteer police officer.

Appearing from custody at North East Wales Magistrates, Pawel Tomaz Najgebauer, pleaded guilty to two offences of assault and being drunk and disorderly following the incident in Wrexham on Saturday.

Justin Espie, prosecuting, said police officers were called to Wrexham Maelor Hospital at about 8pm on Saturday evening after Najgebauer had been brought into Accident and Emergency because he had been found asleep on a roundabout.

He had been refusing to give his details to staff and had begun trying to grab people including a patient who had suffered a broken arm.

When asked to stop, Najgebauer laughed and staff were concerned he was attempting to use the hospital as a place to sleep.

Officers arrived and tried to wake him before taking him to a homeless shelter where he became abusive and aggressive leading to his arrest.

As officers transported him to custody, Najgebauer became violent, smashing his handcuffs on the roof of the vehicle and threatening to "knock out" officers before refusing to exit the van and spitting in the face of Special Sergeant Taylor.

A spit guard had to be applied and Najgebauer, a Polish national, was taken into custody.

In a victim impact statement read to the court, S Sgt Taylor said he "instantly felt dirty" and was worried about the threat of disease.

The court heard Najgebauer, 38, of no fixed abode, was handed an eight week custodial sentence, suspended for a year, in August after he damaged two parked cars while drunk.

Emma Simmoes, defending, said Najgebauer was homeless and had struggled to find work after suffering a work-related accident.

Under the powers of the new Assaults on Emergency Workers (Offences) Bill which came into force last week it is now a criminal offence to assault workers including police, paramedics, firefighters, prison officers, search and rescue personnel and custody officers.

The law, which builds on the previous offence of assaulting a police officer, also provides extra protection to unpaid volunteers who support the emergency services.

Using the new legislation as a guideline, magistrates chairman Nick Colbourne sentenced Najgebauer to 10 weeks in custody as well as activating his eight week suspended sentence to be served consecutively.

He will also pay £100 compensation to S Sgt Taylor and a victim surcharge of £115.