Man arrested over Sydney airport scuffle back in custody after alleged assault at Central train station
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Version 0 of 1. Nicholas Teplin, 41, allegedly struck three men on Thursday afternoon, a day after airport arrest during which a police gun accidentally fired Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcast A Victorian man involved in an airport scuffle in which a police gun was accidentally fired is back in custody for allegedly assaulting several people the next day. Nicholas Teplin, 41, faced a court on Friday on allegations he hit three men in the head at Sydney’s Central railway station and then shoved a police officer while in custody. He allegedly approached a man and punched him in the face at the station on Thursday afternoon, causing the alleged victim to fall on the floor with a bleeding nose, police said. The 41-year-old then struck another two men in the head as he made his way through the station’s concourse, police allege. Sign up: AU Breaking News email Police arrested him as he tried to grab the bag of a fourth man. Teplin was charged with multiple offences, including assault of a police officer after he allegedly pushed a constable in the chest while in custody. The episode came the day after an errant bullet was fired at Sydney airport while Australian federal police arrested the Victorian man. Police were alerted to Teplin’s suspicious behaviour at the check-in counters in the T2 domestic terminal. When officers tried to speak to him, he allegedly became aggressive. A shot was fired from an officer’s short-barrelled rifle during the tussle, police said, with the bullet becoming lodged in the oven of a nearby cafe. The AFP declined to detail how the gun came to be discharged, citing an internal investigation. Teplin had also been on the police radar for disruptive demeanour at the airport on Tuesday. While not having specific medical evidence for Teplin’s condition, Sydney magistrate Daniel Covington on Friday ordered him to receive a mental health assessment. He described the police fact sheet as “bizarre” – in particular, “bizarre comments” Teplin allegedly made to federal police officers at the airport. Sign up to Breaking News Australia Get the most important news as it breaks after newsletter promotion Prosecutors argued there was insufficient evidence to support Teplin’s mental illness, pointing to him allegedly telling police after his arrest on Thursday: “I know I’m going to get bail, like always”. The comment was inconclusive, Teplin’s lawyer David Newham said, adding that Teplin had been medicated for PTSD for the past five years. “It’s in the community’s best interest that this man gets assessed,” he told the court. Teplin will be detained until he is assessed by a psychiatrist and will return to court if the doctors do not find evidence of mental ill-health. Teplin will appear in court in September. He faces charges of obstructing or resisting a federal official and creating a disturbance at an airport over the incident. |