Two home invaders who left a woman and her daughters living with fear and "unable to sleep in our own beds" have asked for leniency as they shift most of the blame to a third co-offender, described as the "prime mover".
Alexander Douglas Jeremy Warne, in his early 30s, and his co-offender, who is not named as he was a juvenile at the time, fronted the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday for sentencing.
A jury in March found both men guilty of aggravated burglary and property damage. Warne's co-offender was also found guilty of theft.
While the facts for the two offenders will be finalised by the sentencing judge, the court heard the facts about the incident when another co-offender, Damien Thomas Andy, was sentenced in March to a suspended jail term after pleading guilty.
Those facts are that, in September 2020, the group smashed through the front door of the victim's home in Taylor, triggering the woman to flee with her children.
Sticks or baseball bats were used to smash the place up before the offenders left in Andy's Holden Commodore.
The victim impact statement was read to the court on Tuesday.
"I was unable to sleep or eat and give myself 100 per cent to my children, who needed me because of that trauma," the victim wrote.
"My youngest daughter had nightmares and wouldn't go near a male for months after the incident."
The victim writes that once they had the courage to return home, they slept as a family in the lounge room because fear "rendered us unable to sleep in our own beds".
The court heard CCTV at Andy's place captured him putting a baseball bat in his car less than one hour before the offending.
Police searched his house following the incident and found stolen items from the premises while forensic analyses also matched a baseball bat, paint samples and DNA to the crime scene.
The court heard Warne's co-offender was also involved in stealing a Jeep Wrangler in a separate incident, which the victim said was an ambush and included him being threatened with a knife.
"I've been deeply affected having my life threatened so violently," he writes.
"I carry the mental burden of this experience with me every day. I'm living in a constant state of fight or flight."
Andy's sentence was reduced because he gave evidence for the prosecution during his co-offenders' trial.
Jack Pappas, lawyer for Warne, argued for a community-based sentence for his client because "there can be little doubt in terms of fact finding" that Andy was the "prime mover" of the home invasion.
He said Warne, who has spent 166 days in pre-sentence custody so far, was not "a lost lamb that cannot be saved", was willing to undertake counselling and had a number of prosocial factors, including being a father.
James Sabharwal and Jonathan Cooper for Warne's co-offender asked for a suspended jail term.
Mr Sabharwal said their client was just following Andy, who was a "much, much older man".
Mr Cooper said the offender should be released as soon as possible because of his young age and to avoid the risk of institutionalisation.
Prosecutor David Swan said the Crown's closing statement during trial accepted Andy was the "primary aggressor", but he said both offenders were willing participants.
Mr Swan said he was against a community-based order for Warne because of the offending's gravity and that nothing in a psychological report suggested Warne's mental health would reduce his moral culpability.
The prosecutor said he agreed with a suspended component in relation to the other offender.
Acting Justice Stephen Walmsley indicated he may deliver his sentences on Wednesday.
