The lead Senate candidate for Fraser Anning's Conservative National Party in the ACT is a veteran who assaulted a police officer and choked an RSPCA inspector in Canberra in 2015.

Shane Van Duren pleaded guilty in the ACT Supreme Court in May 2017 to assault and strangulation. He was given a suspended prison sentence of two years and six months as well as 200 hours of community service.

Shane Van Duren was spared jail after he clashed with authorities trying to seize his companion dog. Credit:Megan Gorrey

The offences occurred when police and RSPCA inspectors were trying to seize his companion dog, a Belgian shepherd named Kalu, which he had freed from an RSPCA shelter.

Mr Van Duren said the dog assisted him with post-traumatic stress disorder caused by his time while serving as a soldier in East Timor.