But he never thought he’d end up authoring one himself.

The day of June 21, 2016, started like any other for the 55-year-old highway patrolman, but by the end of the night he found himself in intensive care at Wollongong Hospital, his family paralysed with fear at the possible outcome of the horrific injuries inflicted on him by a man who didn’t want the senior constable to confiscate his vehicle’s number plates.

On Friday, that man, Jason Scott Cormack, was jailed for almost five years for his crime, with sentencing judge Andrew Haesler finding the 30-year-old former bikie had shown no remorse for his actions.

But it’s all cold comfort for Snr Cst Poole, who is unable to return to the profession on the order of his treating doctors.

“I walked out of that appointment a shattered man,” he said.

“As a result of [Cormack’s] actions that night I lost my identity as a police officer, I lost the camaraderie of the brotherhood.”

Then there’s the unwanted things he has gained since that day: nightmares, extreme headaches and excessive sweating from the new anxiety medication he has to take.

“This crime has devastated my life, profession, self-confidence and ability to provide financially for my family,” he said.

“I am still at odds to understand how attending a relatively minor traffic offence has caused such a huge amount of pain and stress in both mine and my family’s lives.”

It was a question that played on Judge Haesler’s mind too during the sentencing process.

“His actions still remain inexplicable to me,” he said, suggesting that even Cormack’s untreated mental health conditions at the time offered only a partial answer.

Still, he noted Cormack would have a positive network of support people around him when he was eventually released from jail, including his wife and an employer, who had agreed to hold his job until his release.

Judge Haesler set an overall sentence of 4 years and 10 months, with a non-parole period of 3 years and 1 month.

With time already served, he will be eligible to apply for parole in December 2020.

An Illawarra man who bashed a highway patrolman senseless, effectively ending his 34-year career as a police officer, has been sentenced to almost five years behind bars.

Jason Scott Cormack, 30, admitted carrying out the brief but brutal attack on Senior Constable Daniel Poole on the afternoon of June 21, 2016, after the officer turned up at Cormack's Unanderra home following complaints about burnouts being performed in the street earlier in the day.

In the moments before Snr Cst Poole was bashed, he had told Cormack of his intention to confiscate the number plates of an unregistered Holden Commodore parked in the driveway.

An aggressive Cormack spat in the officer's face before laying into him with his fists, causing Snr Cst Poole to fall to the ground.

Dazed and injured, the 55-year-old was unable to get to his feet however had managed to call for back up.

Snr Cst Poole's injuries included a fractured eye and jaw and extensive cuts and bleeding to his face.

During earlier court proceedings, Judge Andrew Haesler rejected Cormack's assertion that he had only punched Snr Cst Poole once in the face that day, instead finding that the injuries had been the result of multiple strikes.

In Wollongong District Court on Friday, Cormack adhered to his plea of guilty to a charge of wounding a police officer with intent to resist arrest, however his lawyer sought a reduced sentence for his client based on Cormack's untreated mental health condition at the time and the spontaneity of the assault.

"There was no planning....he [Cormack] was genuinely aggrieved by being sprayed with capsicum spray and that he was being arrested," the barrister said.

In handing down his sentence, Judge Andrew Haesler accepted Cormack had underlying mental health problems which contributed to his actions that day but said he was not sorry for it.

"He's shown no remorse and no insight into his offending behaviour...he can't accept what he did was wrong," Judge Haesler said.

He set an overall sentence of four years and 10 months with a non-parole period of three years and one month.

With time served Cormack will be eligible to apply for parole in December 2020.