Mental health review of Michael Smith accused of five attacks including a dog

A man charged with assaulting four people and a dog, including an elderly man who sustained a broken collar bone, on a Mid-North Coast boardwalk has been granted bail.

A 53-year-old man was charged at Nambucca Police station on Sunday after an alleged spree of assaults and an act of animal cruelty. Picture: File.

A man charged with assaulting four people and a dog, including an elderly man who sustained a broken collar bone, on a Mid-North Coast boardwalk has been granted bail.

Michael Smith, 53, was released on Tuesday in Kempsey Court following a court ordered mental health assessment.

Police will allege Smith committed the violent spree on Sunday against multiple passers-by and a dog.

An elderly man, 87, was walking on the boardwalk at Riverside Dr, Nambucca Heads around 10:30am on Sunday when he was allegedly approached by Smith who allegedly pushed him in the chest causing him to fall to the ground.

The chaos continued as the accused then allegedly punched a jogger in the face and neck before he allegedly punched a 52-year-old woman walking her two dogs.

The popular Nambucca Heads riverside boardwalk was the scene of the alleged weekend attack. Picture: Bronwyn Hawkes

One of the dogs was allegedly kicked during the commotion but was uninjured.

The accused then allegedly approached a 70-year-old woman walking towards Gordon Park along Wellington Dr.

Four people were allegedly attacked on the boardwalk Nambucca Heads on Sunday leaving an elderly man with a broken collarbone.

She was carrying a coffee tray that the accused is alleged to have swiped at that then hit her ear.

Mid-North Coast police arrested Smith before he was charged on Sunday at Nambucca Heads Police station.

He was initially refused bail and appeared in Kempsey court on Monday where Magistrate Hawkins ordered him to be taken to a mental health facility for assessment.

On findings of not mentally ill or disordered, he returned to court on Tuesday and was granted conditional bail.

Smith is not allowed to go within 100m of the boardwalk, prohibited from taking drugs or alcohol or contacting any prosecution witnesses.

He will return to court on July 24 facing charges of two counts of assault occasioning actual bodily harm, two counts of common assault and commit an act of cruelty upon an animal.

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Originally published as Mental health review of Michael Smith accused of five attacks including a dog