William Joseph Lawton, aged 26 of Central Wagga, appeared via videolink in Wagga Local Court on Monday on charges of supplying a prohibited drug and assaulting a police officer.

Police arrested Lawton in North Wagga and said a total of 3.65 grams of ice was found on him.

The amount was above the level deemed for the purpose of supply under the Drug Misuse and Trafficking Act.

Lawton's solicitor said his client had admitted to the charges at an early stage.

The solicitor told the court a sentencing condition of no drug use for his client might be "setting him up to fail" a community corrections order as he had been using cannabis since he was 14 years old and ice since he was 16.

"I don't accept that I would be setting anybody up to fail simply by asking them to abide by the law," Magistrate Christopher Halburd said.

Lawton at that point started laughing and was told to stop by Magistrate Halburd.

"It's not funny. You could end up in jail if you are caught with one gram of cannabis," Magistrate Halburd said.

According to court documents, police were surveilling a known drug location on William Street in North Wagga about 7pm on September 10 when they observed Lawton attend the location for 5 minutes.

Following a police pursuit, Lawton jumped multiple fences before being apprehended. A body search found two sets of scales and resealable bags containing ice in his hands and shoved down his pants.

Lawton later punched a constable in the bicep with a closed fist while the officer was assisting to move him to a Wagga police station cell for a strip search.

In court on Monday, Lawton's solicitor said his client admitted to the possession but said he did not intend to distribute the drug to other people.

Lawton told the court that last year was "probably the worst of my life and I didn't give a shit about anything but now I'm getting better".

Magistrate Halburd sentenced him to a 12-month community corrections order for assaulting police and a seven-month intensive corrections order for drug possession.

"I need to send a clear message to the community and the defendant that police are just doing their jobs and people who assault them will be dealt with harshly by the court," Magistrate Halburd said.

Latwon was also given multiple $500 fines for deception and property offences, a $500 fine for two failures to appear in court and a $1000 fine for breaching COVID-19 health orders.

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