VIDEO: Wodonga man punches officer while appearing on court link

Jessie Ford-McRorie, 22, attacked Constable Nabubezi Newbetre at the Melton Police Station while on a video link to court.

The Wodonga man, who had been living in Melbourne, had just been told by a magistrate on a video link that his bid for bail was refused.

During the incident on January 20 last year, a shoeless Ford-McRorie stood up and asked the constable "do you want to have a go".

He quickly threw a left hook into the policeman's jaw, causing the officer's tooth to come loose and bleeding to occur.

Judge Carolene Gwynn on Monday told the County Court Ford-McRorie's attack appeared to be "entirely unprovoked", while the constable labelled it "cowardly" in his victim impact statement.

The court heard those in court would have witnessed the assault.

Ford-McRorie was on a corrections order for a Wodonga aggravated burglary at the time of the incident, and for high speed driving in Wangaratta and car theft.

He was taken into custody at Melton for other alleged offending.

Following the hit on the policeman, three officers restrained him and he was charged with intentionally causing injury, which he pleaded guilty to on Monday.

The victim said police should be able to leave for work and return home in the same condition.

"I did not expect to get assaulted in my workplace that day," he said.

"The accused cowardly punched me in the mouth.

"The physical injuries took a few weeks to heal, but the psychological effects ... took months for me to get over."

Constable Newbetre said he felt embarrassed and ashamed following the incident.

"I hope the accused has used his several months in custody to reflect on his actions."

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The court heard the 460 days Ford-McRorie had spent on remand involved 23 hours of lockdown each day.

Judge Gwynn noted there was "no real remorse" shown by the 22-year-old over the unprovoked attack.

"He had no opportunity to protect himself, it was just 'whack'," she said of Constable Newbetre.

She had given Ford-McRorie an opportunity to change following the Wodonga burglary in the form of a corrections order, but said there had been "close to zero" compliance.

He remains in custody at Barwon Prison and will be sentenced next Tuesday.

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