The sad and sudden downfall of a soapie star: Home and Away actor forced into rehab after being charged with obscene exposure and assaulting police in bizarre run-ins with cops
- Joshua Quong Tart played Miles Copeland in Home and Away from 2007 to 2011
- He has also appeared in All Saints, McLeod's Daughters and an Underbelly series
- Quong Tart, 44, was arrested last month and charged with a string of offences
- He was granted bail on condition he enter a northern NSW rehabilitation centre
Home and Away star Josh Quong Tart has been ordered into rehabilitation after his increasingly erratic behaviour led to him assaulting a police officer.
Quong Tart, who also appeared in All Saints, McLeod's Daughters and Underbelly, has pleaded guilty to the assault, resisting arrest and offensive behavior.
Those offences relate to a bizarre confrontation with police in Sydney the night after he finished playing the lead role in the raunchy cabaret drag show Betty Blokk-Buster Reimagined.
Quong Tart is further charged with assaulting police, resisting arrest, intimidating a police officer and wilful and obscene exposure over a separate incident south of Sydney.
He is also due to be sentenced for refusing or failing to submit to a breath test.
Home and Away start Josh Quong Tart has been ordered into rehab after his increasingly erratic behaviour led to him assaulting a police officer. Quong Tart has pleaded guilty to the assault, resisting arrest and behaving offensively. He is still facing further charges
Quong Tart played Miles 'Milco' Copeland in Home and Away from 2007 to 2011, Matt Horner in All Saints and Andrew Perish in Underbelly: Badness. He is pictured as Copeland kissing Samantha Tolj's character Shandi Ayres
Quong Tart played Miles 'Milco' Copeland in Home and Away from 2007 to 2011, Matt Horner in All Saints and Andrew Perish in Underbelly: Badness.
He also appeared as Scar in the 2013-2016 stage production of Disney's The Lion King which toured Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth.
The 44-year-old did not appear in Downing Centre Local Court on Tuesday when lawyer Adam Faro entered the guilty pleas to the Sydney offences on his behalf.
Mr Faro also asked that his client's bail conditions be altered so he could attend a private rehabilitation facility on the New South Wales north coast rather than the Sydney Clinic.
Quong Tart's recent troubles with alcohol and the law were outlined in a statement of facts tendered to the court.
'The accused has come under increasing police notice due to his behaviour including violent and alcohol related offences,' the statement said.
'The accused is currently under bail conditions for these offences and it is suspected the accused will continue to come under further police notice in the future without sufficient intervention.'
Quong Tart was involved in a bizarre confrontation with police in Sydney the night after he finished playing the lead role in the raunchy cabaret drag show Betty Blokk-Buster Reimagined (pictured)
Quong Tart's recent troubles with alcohol and the law were outlined in a statement of facts tendered to Downing Centre Local Court. He is pictured in All Saints
Quong Tart's latest run-in with police began on Monday, January 27, when he was spotted on the median strip of William Street, Darlinghurst, 'waving his hands in the air erratically.'
While police were stopped at traffic lights about 10.50pm a member of the public approached them and said 'that guy over there just assaulted a taxi driver then took off.'
[Quong Tart has not been charged with assaulting a cab driver].
Officers lost sight of Quong Tart but were directed by pedestrians to another taxi parked nearby.
When police asked the driver of that cab if he had a passenger in the back he nodded and said yes.
'Police then observed the accused in the rear left seat of the taxi appearing to hide from police sight,' the statement of facts said.
Two constables then approached the vehicle and attempted to speak to Quong Tart.
'The accused immediately became hostile towards police, shouting aggressively "f*** off", "get the f*** away from me", "f*** off".'
Quong Tart's latest run-in with police began on January 27, when he was spotted on the median strip of William Street, Darlinghurst, 'waving his hands in the air erratically.' He is pictured at the 2009 Logie Awards in Melbourne
Police activated their body camera videos and called for back-up.
'The accused continued to shout aggressively, stating similar phrases... causing saliva to come from his mouth and land on the inside of the window of the taxi.'
While one constable held the taxi's door closed from the outside, Quong Tart began punching the window from the inside.
Quong Tart then left the vehicle from the unprotected rear passenger door and was followed by police including Constable Kory Sonter.
'The accused then turned around and with his right hand in a fist threw a punch at Constable Sonter striking him above his right eye,' the statement of facts said.
'Constable Sonter then utilised a defensive strike, taking the accused to the ground.'
As Constable Sonter and a female colleague attempted to handcuff Quong Tart he continued to violently resist. He was finally restrained when further police arrived.
Quong Tart was taken to Surry Hills police station where he caused more trouble.
The actor is a descendant of prominent 19th century Chinese-born Sydney merchant Mei Quong Tart. He is pictured right on stage in The Miser at the Drama Theatre in the Sydney Opera House in 2004
'Whilst attempting to move the accused into a cell the accused continued to resist police, attempting to pull away from their grasp,' the statement of facts said.
'The accused was placed into the cell however then ran towards the opening of the door and placed his hands between the door and the frame of the cell to prevent it closing.
'The accused was required to again be restrained by a number of officers before he was successfully contained in the cell.'
Quong Tart was so aggressive and non-cooperative he was not offered the opportunity to be electronically interviewed.
The night before the melee Quong Tart had finished an 18-night run as the title character in Betty Blokk-Buster Reminagined at the Magic Mirror Spiegeltent in Hyde Park.
His performance in that Sydney Festival show, inspired by Reg Livermore's 1975 cabaret Betty Blokk-Buster Follies, was described as 'simply extraordinary' and featured Quong Tart bearing his bottom.
Mr Faro said his client would be seeking to have the Sydney matters dealt with under the Mental Health Act rather than the criminal law and asked for time for reports to be prepared.
'There's a bit of a history involved,' Mr Faro told the court.
The actor is a descendant of prominent 19th century Chinese-born Sydney merchant Mei Quong Tart, who died in July 1903 less than a year after being robbed and bashed in the Queen Victoria Building.
Quong Tart, who lives at Newtown, is due back in the Downing Centre on April 1.
