Manning Francis, 25, of Bega pleaded guilty to two charges of assaulting a police officer, one of resisting arrest and one of common assault resulting from incidents in Bega's shopping district last July.

Francis appeared in Bega Local Court on Tuesday, April 28, from Silverwater Correctional Centre via audio-visual link wearing prison-issue green shorts and T-shirt.

He has been in custody since September 5, after he was refused bail on charges relating to an alleged hammer attack on an employee of Bankin Beans in Bega.

He listened in as Magistrate Doug Dick discussed the new unrelated matters with the prosecution and duty solicitor Jennifer Chalker acting for the defence.

In police facts tendered to the court, at about 12.10pm on July 10, 2019, Francis was threatening people on Auckland St while carrying two metal poles. He was also observed by police screaming and yelling abuse.

Francis punched a plain clothes senior constable in the temple after being confronted, and was then wrestled to the ground by three other police officers. During the scuffle Francis lashed out with his legs, kneeing a second senior constable in the stomach and kicking them in the knee.

A nearby shopkeeper assisted police by holding down Francis's legs.

Ms Chalker said Francis was frightened and unsure about what was happening as the first officer trying to restrain him was not in uniform. She said he admitted to struggling and while he couldn't recall punching the officer, he acknowledged it likely happened.

In a separate matter, at 11.30am on July 15, Francis attended the Direct Chemist Outlet in Bega's Sapphire Marketplace.

Apparently taking offence at not being served immediately, he began verbally abusing staff. When asked to leave the store he grabbed a wire pamphlet holder and threw it out into the marketplace, where it hit a 75-year-old woman in the back of her legs.

Police said CCTV footage "clearly depicts the actions of the accused" who was subsequently charged with common assault over the incident.

In court on Tuesday, Ms Chalker said Francis's "bizarre behaviour" stemmed from a lack of impulse control and doctors were considering CT and MRI scans to try to determine the "mechanism leading to his behaviour".

Magistrate Dick convicted Francis on all four matters, sentencing him to a six-month fixed term, which was backdated to the time he was taken into custody for the alleged hammer attack, September 5. It means he has already served his time for the offences, although remains in custody for the alleged hammer attack, "which will take its natural course in district court" Magistrate Dick said.

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