A Cilgerran teenager pinned a police officer to the ground after he was searched in the street, a court has heard.

Ellis Morgan Lawrence, aged 19, of Trebanog, Penllyn, appeared before Aberystwyth magistrates on Wednesday. He pleaded guilty to assaulting a police constable in the execution of his duty, in Cardigan, on November 11.

Vaughan Pritchard-Jones, prosecuting, told the court that PC Samuel Phillips spotted Lawrence outside the Co-op store in Quay Street at around midnight.

He said: “He appeared to be under the influence of something, his speech was slurred and his pupils were dilated. He took exception to being searched and became aggressive.”

Other officers assisted and Lawrence was searched while on the ground, but no drugs were found.

The defendant then went to PC Phillips asking for the pink search slip and began arguing with him, before squaring up to the officer and grabbing and pulling him.

Both men ended up on the ground and Lawrence managed to pin the PC Phillips to the floor. Other officers sprayed Lawrence with incapacitating spray and arrested him.

He told police he would not have pushed the officer if he hadn’t been refused a copy of the slip, and alleged that the officer had acted in an aggressive manner towards him.

He admitted he was drunk, but said he could remember what had happened.

Alan Lewis, defending, said his client maintained in interview that he had acted in self-defence.

Mr Lewis said: “It was a negative search. He told the officer he was willing to be searched at the station. Cardigan is a small town and to be searched in public could be embarrassing. He wanted the slip to confirm he had been searched in the street.”

He added: “My client accepts that his behaviour was excessive on the night. He has learnt from this, it’s something he has been worried about for some weeks.”

The presiding magistrate said: “You probably realise that you over-reacted in this case.”

Lawrence, a labourer, was fined £135, and ordered to pay £85 court costs plus a £20 victim surcharge.