Michael McKenzie, 35, was sentenced in Wollongong Local Court on Friday, April 19 after his actions left his partner with nothing but her handbag and two police officers with serious injuries.

McKenzie pleaded guilty earlier this week to resisting police, damaging property, assaulting a police officer occasioning actual bodily harm, damaging property by fire and two counts of contravening an apprehended violence order.

During sentencing, body-worn footage from the police officers who made the arrest was played, showing the terrifying scenes that unfolded on the morning of January 28 this year.

Earlier that morning, McKenzie had arrived at the home and demanded cigarettes from his ex-partner, who the court heard was a frequent victim of McKenzie's attacks.

Fearful of McKenzie, the woman went to leave, but an argument began, after which she fled to the backyard and called police.

Officers arrived shortly after, but not before McKenzie flew into a rage, barricading himself inside the house and smashing furniture and destroying the woman's belongings.

Soon after assessing the scene, officers realised McKenzie had set the house alight, with smoke and after a few second flames spewing out of the kitchen window.

McKenzie then exits the front door and officers arrest him, moving him onto the street to get away from the blaze.

During the arrest, McKenzie then lashes out, pulling at an officer's hair, ripping out a clump from her scalp. McKenzie also punched the other officer in the face, before upper cutting her jaw.

The police scream for back-up into their radios, before a neighbour arrives to help subdue McKenzie.

Both cops suffered abrasions, extensive bruising, swelling, jaw and joint pain, and sprained ligaments.

Firefighters battled to extinguish the blaze, but the house was destroyed.

Representing McKenzie, lawyer Alistair Sinclair said his client had taken responsibility for his actions, however the flame was the result of McKenzie recklessly leaving the lit cigarette next to the kitchen curtains, which then caught alight.

Mr Sinclair also noted McKenzie was intoxicated at the time, something Magistrate Claire Girotto said was obvious from his eyes in the police video.

Ms Girotto said the offending approached the Local Court's "jurisdictional limit", but acknowledged there were special circumstances, due to McKenzie's background and circumstances.

Ms Girotto sentenced McKenzie to up to three years behind bars. With time already served, he will be eligible for parole on July 27, 2025.