A former star athlete who once hit the headlines for attacking a track official has been convicted of violently resisting arrest.

Nick-Cole DeSilva, 40, pleaded guilty to the charge in relation to a scuffle at the hospital when he appeared in Magistrates' Court on Monday.

He further admitted ripping a Police Sergeant's shirt, but denied assaulting him and using offensive words. The Crown offered no evidence on these counts.

Crown counsel Larissa Burgess told the court that Police were called to a fight on Front Street around 12.05 a.m on Saturday. They arrested DeSilva for breach of the peace and took him to the hospital for treatment to a shoulder injury.

Once there, said Ms Burgess, DeSilva launched an unprovoked attack on the Police officers, throwing several punches and kicking his legs at them. He grabbed a Sergeant's shirt and ripped off the shoulder flaps, but was eventually restrained after being sprayed with Captor pepper spray.

Defence lawyer Charles Richardson said DeSilva has lived in the US for the past 15 years, and has no convictions there or in Bermuda. He claimed he was back on the Island for his grandmother's funeral when he was attacked by a gang of men while drinking in Bootsies on Front Street.

Mr. Richardson said DeSilva got angry because the Police treated him as a criminal when he viewed himself as a victim. He claimed the violent outburst at the hospital stemmed from this, plus DeSilva's grief for his grandmother and pain from allegedly being handled roughly.

DeSilva told Magistrate Khamisi Tokunbo: "I apologise for the whole circumstance but when they (the Police) arrived they treated me as if I started the fight. I was on the ground being kicked."

Mr. Tokunbo handed him a 12-month conditional discharge, which means he will not face punishment unless he gets into further trouble. He chided: "At your age, you don't expect that behaviour from you."

As a young star, DeSilva represented Bermuda at the Pan American Junior Games in Florida in 1986 and at the CAC Championships in Puerto Rico in 1989. However, in 1993 he received an 18-month ban from the Bermuda Track and Field Association for a physical assault on official Stan Douglas at the 1992 Heritage Classic.