Singer Shannon Noll has said he wants to put his cocaine possession behind him and get back to work after he was placed on a 12-month good behaviour bond following a guilty plea.

The 43-year-old’s lawyer, Bryan Wrench, entered the plea at Sutherland Local Court on Thursday for one count of possessing a prohibited drug and asked that it proceed to sentence immediately.

Noll was caught by police with 0.53 grams of cocaine at Caringbah Hotel in southern Sydney on September 13.

Magistrate Glenn Walsh noted farmers and celebrities were among those who provided character references for Noll who, he said, had fallen from his “high perch” and suffers “a severe case” of depression.

“He’s never really gotten over the death of his father,” Mr Walsh said as he imposed the bond.

The magistrate said a conviction would be “going too far” and “if he (Noll) wants to resurrect and continue his career, clearly a … conviction would be most adverse to him”.

Noll outside court told reporters: “I’d just like to thank the judge, and Bryan Wrench for representation, and (I’m) just looking forward to putting this behind me and getting back to work.”

– AAP