According to the Illawarra Mercury, 55-year-old UGL chief legal officer Murray Bede McArdle also pleaded guilty to causing malicious damage in the Pacific Highway incident involving the 28-year-old learner biker Alex Chapman.

“All I remember is being hit from behind on my motorbike by a car and then being attacked by the driver, being strangled," Chapman, a communications consultant, told the North Sydney local court in August.

While McArdle has pleaded guilty to the two offences, his solicitor is also arguing for section 32 of the Mental Health act to be applied to the case.

“This is a provision that allows offenders to avoid criminal sanctions on the grounds that they were significantly affected by a mental illness at the time of the offence, such as by experiencing delusions or hallucinations,” the newspaper reported.

“McCardle made no comment as he left the court on Wednesday.”

The case will return to court on November 12.

Chapman had been on his learner’s licence for just five days before the road incident.