By Ewen McRae
A man who invaded a Kurunjang house armed with a sledgehammer and a rifle last year has been sentenced to 20 months imprisonment and a two year community corrections order.
Shane O’Brien was sentenced in the County Court last month in relation to an incident on July 7, 2018.
The court heard O’Brien and two unknown co-offenders had been drinking at his house, when they drove to a Kurunjang property about 10pm.
One of the unknown men stayed in the car, while O’Brien and the other man approached the house. O’Brien was carrying a large sledgehammer, while the unknown offender had a .22 calibre rifle.
Two occupants of the house, a man and a woman, told the court they heard a noise at the front door and when they investigated they found O’Brien bashing the security door with the sledgehammer.
The occupants told them they had the wrong house, but O’Brien continued to bash the door, bending it inwards. He then broke a window with the hammer and the two men entered the house and asked the woman for ‘ice and cash’.
The man with the rifle then tried to steal a motorbike from the premises, but fled the property when the woman’s boyfriend arrived.
Shortly following the incident, the female victim observed O’Brien in a nearby park, and police found him disposing of the rifle and sledgehammer in nearby properties.
While he initially denied the offending, O’Brien later pled guilty to a number of charges, including trespassing with intent to cause an offence, unlawful assault, and firearms charges.
In sentencing, Judge James Parrish said while alcohol was a mitigating factor, the seriousness of the offence necessitated a prison sentence.
“I do consider that your offending on the night of 7 July 2018 is ‘serious’,” Judge Parrish said. “Although I accept that alcohol erred your decision-making processes on that night, alcohol is no defence or excuse for such offending.”
O’Brien has served nearly nine months of his 20 month sentence in pre-sentence detention, and will have a two year community correction order begin immediately after he is released.
