A 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 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.
Police arrested him as he tried to grab a fourth man’s bag.
The Victorian man 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.
A shot was fired from an officer's short-barrelled rifle during the tussle.
He was also on 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 made to federal police officers at the airport.
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.
NSW Police later suggested Teplin had opportunities to seek help before the railway station incident on Thursday afternoon.
"It's called personal responsibility, it's a very simple concept," Chief Inspector Gary Coffey told reporters.
"You've got a personal obligation to make sure that you get the treatment you need, so that you're not a danger to people in the community, or a danger to yourself."
He declined to comment on the federal police decision to grant Teplin bail on Wednesday but said police made decisions based on the risks that were known at that time.
Teplin was bailed after Wednesday's fracas to 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.
Federal police on Wednesday declined to detail how the gunfire in the terminal occurred, citing an internal investigation.
The police-issued weapon fired when very low to the ground with the bullet lodged in the oven of a nearby cafe, according to police.
The arrest came after an airline alerted police 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.
The gunshot caused no injuries and the airport did not go into lockdown, police said.
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