Josh David Lewis, 35, of Hay, was jailed for 30 months in May this year after pleading guilty to two charges of resisting police and two charges of driving in a dangerous manner during a police pursuit.

Lewis appeared in Wagga District Court on Friday via videolink from Cooma Correctional Centre in a bid to appeal the severity of his sentence.

District Court Judge Gordon Lerve said Lewis led police on two "dangerous" pursuits through Ashmont and onto the Sturt and Olympic highways, reaching speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour.

Judge Lerve said police turned on their lights and sirens when they saw Lewis driving towards Mumford Street at 8.29am on November 19, 2021.

Lewis drove at speeds of up to 80 kilometres per hour in residential 50-kilometre zones across Ashmont and drove on the wrong side of the road in Madang Street.

Judge Lerve said Lewis then used Ashmont Avenue to access the Sturt Highway and straddled the centre dividing line before driving at an oncoming vehicle at Collingullie in an attempt to evade police.

Police terminated the pursuit at Collingullie and later had no success in locating Lewis.

After officers asked service station staff at Uranquinty to call police if they spotted Lewis, they were later informed he was travelling on the Olympic Highway towards Wagga.

Lewis again fled police at speeds of up to 150 kilometres per hour in a 100 zone but officers set up 'stop sticks' at the corner of Red Hill Road.

Lewis's two right-side tyres made contact with the stop sticks and were completely deflated but he continued driving on to Grinton Avenue and Fernleigh Road before stopping at Bulolo Street.

Lewis attempted to flee the vehicle and struggled with officers while being apprehended, resulting in the resisting police charge.

Judge Lerve said the seriousness of the police pursuits were "well above mid-range".

Judge Lerve said Lewis's offending included driving at high speeds over a "significant distance" on the major thoroughfares between Wagga and Albury and Sydney and Adelaide.

"The offending is simply too serious for an intensive corrections order," he said.

Lewis's solicitor conceded that a full-time custodial sentence was the only appropriate response to his client's offences.

However, the solicitor asked Judge Lerve to consider reducing Lewis's non-parole period on the basis of mental health evidence that was not presented to the Local Court.

Judge Lerve said he had to consider the issue of general deterrence to other potential offenders.

"Police pursuits are dangerous to the public and dangerous to officers who are just doing their job," he said.

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Judge Lerve noted Lewis had prior charges for supply and possession of prohibited drugs and had been fined and ordered to do community service for dangerous driving.

"He is not entitled to specific leniency," he said.

Lewis was diagnosed with ADHD and conduct and oppositional defiance disorders at age 10 and had been bullied extensively at school.

Lewis's longstanding history of substance and alcohol abuse led to drug-induced psychosis, schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.

A psychiatrist stated that Lewis was "suffering severe mental health impairment at the time of offending", including psychosis and major depressive disorder.

Judge Lerve upheld Lewis's appeal, reducing his non-parole period from 20 months to 18 months.

Lewis's solicitor had also asked that his period of disqualification from driving be reduced as he was a shearing contractor and needed to travel across the state to work.

Judge Lerve ordered that Lewis's multiple three-year disqualification from driving periods be served concurrently due to his occupation while living in an "isolated area".

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