A Tauranga man accused of strangling a female police officer in the back of a patrol car has appeared in court this morning facing new assault charges.

The 32-year-old man is facing two new counts of assault in relation to separate incidents, one count of wilful trespass and one count of shoplifting.

He appeared in Tauranga District Court today where he was remanded to the Henry Bennett Centre in Hamilton for two weeks by Judge Thomas Ingram.

This is to allow time for a mental health report to be prepared and for the accused to receive treatment before his next appearance on November 21.

His lawyer David Bates told the judge he was not comfortable taking instructions from his client until he has received treatment for his mental health issues.

'Once all these are sorted, we can get a clear instruction on how to proceed on the criminal matters.”

The man is accused of strangling a female police officer as she was transporting him back to the police station on Monmouth Street to take a statement after he had been beaten up on Sunday, September 22.

A second unit was travelling behind the female officer's car and managed to overpower the alleged attacker.

According to court documents, the accused also stole $164.98 worth of clothing from The Warehouse in Tauranga on September 18.

He is also accused of assaulting a man in Tauranga on September 21 and assaulting a male police officer when the officer came to deal with the assault on the same day.