Ethan Smith pleads guilty to affray and assaulting police after incident in West Tamworth but COVID-19 could cause problems

Ethan Smith, 22, is on bail and did not appear in Tamworth Local Court late last week.

His defence solicitor Tammy White confirmed guilty pleas to charges of affray and two counts of assaulting police while they were doing their job, after she "intimated" that outcome at an earlier court mention.

Ms White said she had worked with police on a set of agreed facts about what happened and had filed it with the court.

Ms Soars ordered an assessment report for Smith ahead of his sentence date in March.

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She said she was not pre-judging the matter and hadn't yet read the facts, but warned that if a full-time jail sentence was necessary and the COVID-19 situation continued, it may not go ahead.

"Matters that are serious are not proceeding," she said.

"We're not to put more people into custody during this COVID time if they are doing well on bail."

Smith was arrested in the hours after emergency services responded to calls for help at a home in Thomas Street, West Tamworth, about 1pm on October 28.

Oxley police were told an altercation had broken out between a group of men before a 32-year-old man was allegedly stabbed in the head. The injured man was rushed to hospital in a critical condition.

Police later arrested Smith and an older man at a home in Westdale.

The older man was charged with intent to murder over the alleged stabbing, and remains before the courts.

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