Man accused of DV, police assault to remain in custody

THE man, 36, was bitten by a police dog during his arrest this week.

Heath Jamison Baird remains in custody over the allegations. Picture: Contributed

INJURIES from a police dog attack and other issues were not enough to have a domestic violence accused released from custody, a court has heard.

Heath Jamison Baird, 36, faced Lismore Local court via video link from Grafton Correctional Centre on Tuesday.

His solicitor Thomas Trembath had that morning asked Magistrate David Heilpern to delay hearing the matter while Mr Baird sought medical treatment at the jail.

On Tuesday afternoon, Mr Trembath made an application for his client to be released on bail.

He said prison time was "not inevitable” for Mr Baird if he was found guilty of the charges before the court.

This included charged of domestic violence-related common assault, contravening an apprehended violence order and resisting police from an alleged incident last Friday.

He's also charged with two counts of resisting police and one count of assaulting police from the time of his eventual arrest on Sunday night.

Mr Trembath entered a guilty plea to one count of breaching an AVO and not guilty pleas to his resist and assault police charges which came from the time of his arrest.

"His instructions ... are that he was being wrestled on the ground by the dog and certainly did not resist police,” Mr Trembath said.

"He was trying to protect himself from the dog.”

Mr Trembath said Mr Baird suffered "significant injuries to his arm” from the dog's part in the arrest.

He was assessed in custody for a potential transfer to hospital, but was treated and kept at the jail, Mr Trembath said.

The court heard Mr Baird also had a significant back injury from a road crash in 1997 and a head injury which resulted from a brawl at a party in 2003, during which he was struck by a baseball bat.

Mr Trembath said his client was concerned any assaults in custody could put in at particular risk due to these injuries.

Police prosecutor Brett Gradisnik said there were "unacceptable risks” to the community if Mr Baird was released and that there was no evidence he couldn't be "treated adequately” in custody.

Magistrate David Heilpern refused Mr Baird bail.

Mr Baird is due to face court by video link again when the matter returns on March 1.