When a robber with a face tattoo was involved in an ice pick attack, the victim would recognise the unmasked man immediately.
The two men had known each other for years, played basketball together and were friends on social media.
The tattooed Kalani Joliffe-Cole made no attempt to disguise his appearance when in 2022 he robbed the man in the carport of a unit in Hawker.
Joliffe-Cole, 27, faced the start of his ACT Supreme Court sentencing on Thursday, having previously pleaded guilty to robbery.
On Thursday, Legal Aid lawyer Edward Chen said Joliffe-Cole, who has a lengthy criminal history, was now engaging in therapy and had started taking antidepressants for the first time.
Mr Chen said his client, currently behind bars, was displaying a "degree of maturity which is very important for someone his age".
"[During the attack] he was going through withdrawals, not being able to afford the drugs he was using," he told the court.
A prosecutor argued there were multiple aggravating factors including the ice pick, as well as "a degree of premeditation".
Agreed facts state in July 2022 the victim was in a carport, when he saw another man and thought he might be lost.
The victim immediately recognised the man as Joliffe-Cole, noting a "buzz cut" and a "scripted tattoo on the right side of the man's face".
Then, a second unidentified robber wearing a face mask threw the victim to the ground before Joliffe-Cole punched him in the face.
A third robber then began to assault the man, who saw one of his attackers hold an ice pick to his neck.
The victim was repeatedly punched and drifted in and out of consciousness while feeling the robbers search his pockets.
The attackers then drove off in a white car.
The victim thought he may have been unconscious for about 15 to 20 minutes and reported messages from his bank alerting him to suspicious transactions at SupaExpress Florey and Florey Bakery.
He was also unable to locate a number of his belongings, including cash, bank cards, identification and his "size 11 Adidas sneakers".
More than two weeks later, police arrested Joliffe-Cole in Belconnen and discovered "a black metal pole" similar to the weapon described by the victim.
Justice Louise Taylor is set to hand down the 27-year-old's sentence at a later date.
