A thug who kicked and spat at police while in an agitated state trying to protect his mother has been given the chance to prove he has turned his life around.

Jack Towers launched a tirade of homophobic abuse while he was handcuffed and laid on the ground while officers struggled to arrest him.

The 24-year-old’s vile behaviour was captured on an officer’s body-worn footage which was played to the judge sitting at Teesside Crown Court.

The footage showed the father-to-be spitting in the face of an officer while lashing out with his feet after he turned up at his mother’s home to help her out.

Caroline McGurk, prosecuting, said the defendant called one of the officers a ‘f****** f******’ before spitting on his face and forearm.

In a victim personal statement, the officer spoke of his concern after he was spat at in the face with bloodied spittle.

He said he had to undergo medical tests to ensure that no disease had been transmitted in the spittle.

Towers, of Prescott Street, Darlington, pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting an emergency worker during his arrest on August 9 last year.

Gary Wood, in mitigation, said his client was now working full-time as an apprentice and was showing the ‘green shoots’ of change as he is due to become a father in December.

The lawyer told the court how Towers was enraged when he turned up to help his mother and reacted badly to being arrested at the scene.

He said: “The assault takes place after the handcuffs have been placed on him. I concede from the outset that spitting is a disgusting act that the court will take a very dim view of.

“I concede that any assault on an emergency worker is serious and even more serious when the defendant has the record that he has.

“I accept this type of offending, even with the sense of injustice that this defendant has, crosses the custody threshold.”

Judge Chris Smith told Towers he would defer sentence for six months to prove that he is turning his back on criminality.

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“This is a prison case and the only reason I am considering a non-custodial sentence is because of his very significant, cumulative mitigation,” he said.

“The behaviour on the footage, is on any view, disgraceful. The defendant found it difficult to watch.

“You could not have the slightest complaint if I locked you up today. If I locked you up today, you would serve a short sentence but I can guarantee that you would miss the birth of your child.”

Towers will be sentenced in April by Judge Smith while he is sitting in Bradford Crown Court.