Two Queensland men have been jailed after joining 13 others to smash their way into an apartment complex with baseball bats and hockey sticks.
The night-time gang attack left one resident injured after being pushed down the front stairs, a unit's patio door broken and valuables taken and the building's lobby damaged.
Hudson Nyandwi, 19, and Zizo George, 21, pleaded guilty in Brisbane District Court on Thursday to riot, assault occasioning bodily harm, wilful damage, stealing and break and enter charges.
Nyandwi also pleaded guilty to the armed robbery of alcohol from a bottle shop in May 2021 and a mobile phone from a Brisbane shopping centre the following December.
Crown prosecutor Kate Droney said armed robbery and rioting were serious offences and needed sentences sufficient to deter others.
"(Nyandwi) committed three serious sets of violent offending in 2021, two while on bail," Ms Droney said.
At 3.30am on June 5, 2021, Nyandwi and George joined a 15-strong group, some armed and all covering their faces, who targeted an apartment building in Toowong in inner-Brisbane.
CCTV footage showed George hiding at the building's front door and ambushing two young women as they left to catch an Uber ride.
George threatened the women with a hockey stick and demanded access to the building, leaving one of them with bruising after pushing her down the stairs.
The group then joined George and tried to smash in the front door but their weapons shattered on contact with the safety glass.
They then climbed onto a patio and forced their way into a unit, smashing windows and a TV before stealing a laptop and shoes and damaging walls, artwork, fixtures and two parked vehicles on their way out.
Nyandwi's barrister John Jacob said his client did not have a weapon during the apartment incident.
"His family migrated to Australia from Uganda when he was 10 months old. He is an Australian citizen, has completed year 11 and has worked retail jobs," Mr Jacob said.
"His descent into offending followed the extremely abrupt separation of parents in 2021."
George's barrister John Cook said his client, who had migrated from Sudan aged three and was an Australian citizen, had been his family's sole breadwinner after his mother lost her job during the pandemic.
Judge Terry Gardiner said the woman who was pushed down the stairs must have had a "terrifying" experience and the 17 triple-zero calls by residents showed how much fear the "mass entry of armed offenders" had instilled.
"The law in this country has always leant heavily against those who (unlawfully) use the threat that lies in the power of numbers," Judge Gardiner said.
George was sentenced to two-and a half years imprisonment and Nyandwi to three years, but both were granted parole after each spending more than 18 months on remand.
George remained in custody in relation to another case.
