Alex Douglas Heatherington, 34, was charged with dangerous driving during a police pursuit, for driving under the influence of drugs, and for possession of a knife in a public place, for an incident that took place in April last year.

In Bega Local Court on Tuesday, January 24, the court was told the automotive business owner was travelling in Merimbula on a Harley Davidson motorbike when he was asked to pull over by police.

The court was told that police pursued the man on Merimbula Drive after it appeared he was ignoring their signals for him to stop and exceeding the speed limit.

On a damp patch of road near the Princes Hwy, Mr Heatherington lost control of his motorbike and crashed.

The court heard that during the subsequent police search, a pocket knife was found clipped to his jeans.

He was taken to South East Regional Hospital for an injury to his left shoulder and a blood sample was taken.

The court was told the sample returned a positive reading of methylamphetamine, commonly known as 'ice'.

A report was prepared for the magistrate who said in court that it was a significant amount, and enough to impair the man's driving.

Mr Heatherington was represented in court by Ines Chiumento who said her client accepted what happened and had made steps to receive drug and alcohol counselling.

She also said her client was, "devastated he has set a bad example for his young children" and was also remorseful that his business reputation would be on the line for his actions despite the hard work he had put into establishing it.

The court also heard the man suffered significant physical repercussions from the incident including injuries to his shoulder, ribs, and bruising.

Magistrate Doug Dick said he did not want to lecture Mr Heatherington, as it was clear from the physical and business ramifications, that he had "likely already learnt the hard way".

The magistrate combined the drug offence and police pursuit into a packaged sentence.

Mr Heatherington was disqualified from driving for two years and was placed under an Intensive Corrections Order for 18 months.

He was to be supervised by Bega Community Corrections and abide by any further corrections as deemed appropriate, such as drug and alcohol counselling.

Mr Heatherington was also ordered to serve 300 hours of community service.

For possession of a knife in a public place, he was fined $500 and it was also to be forfeited to police.

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