A HEAVILY intoxicated man who bit a police officer after they came to his assistance has avoided jail for the incident.
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Brodie Joe Betterton, 19, appeared before the Wodonga Magistrates Court on Tuesday in relation to the incident on Australia Day.
Police had gone to a home on Firestone Way in Wodonga after a brawl broke out at the house party.
When they arrived about 9.50pm, they found Betterton passed out, without a shirt, with blood and cuts on his face.
They noted that he appeared to be heavily drunk or on drugs.
Police told Betterton, who lives in the Beechworth area, that paramedics were on their way and he stood up.
They told him to sit down but he refused to do so, and became focused on one of the Wodonga officers.
The teenager clenched his fist and became fixated on the officer, and did not respond to directions from the police.
Both officers took out their capsicum spray canisters as Betterton walked down a driveway.
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The members kept giving him instructions, which he didn't listen to.
He was sprayed but it had no effect.
Both officers took Betterton to the ground but he continued to struggle by kicking out his legs.
More police arrived and the 19-year-old bit an officer on his forearm.
He was eventually handcuffed, but continued to resist police.
He was so agitated, he had to be sedated by paramedics.
The 19-year-old swore at the officer he had bitten, yelling "I'm going to f---ing kill you".
He was hospitalised and inquiries with the other partygoers showed he had been aggressive with them too.
They had hit him in self-defence after he smashed up three windows and broke off a door at the property.
The dispute appeared to have started when they hid his keys to prevent him driving off to buy more grog.
His lawyer Michelle Matthews asked that the teenager be placed on an adjourned undertaking.
"I don't accept that at all," magistrate Bruce Cottrill said.
Ms Matthews argued that her client was a young man who was inexperienced with alcohol.
He had been so affected by alcohol, she said, it took him weeks to recover, and said it was an "event out of the ordinary".
He was placed on a corrections order and fined $400.
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