A "lonely" home invader claims he was celebrating the birthday of his criminal "apprentice" when he poured petrol in a man's mouth and tried to set him on fire.
Intruder Robert James Smith, 32, was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday to six years and seven months in jail.
Acting Justice Stephen Norrish fixed a non-parole period of four years.
The judge commenced the sentencing by telling Smith what the end result would be, explaining that he would then give his reasons for imposing it.
"Do I have to stay for that?" Smith asked, apparently keen to get back to prison.
Acting Justice Norrish replied that he did.
"It's part of the punishment, I'm afraid," the judge said.
Acting Justice Norrish went on to detail how Smith had pleaded guilty last month to charges of attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm, aggravated burglary, riding in a stolen car, and two counts of theft.
The 32-year-old originally denied all the charges and only admitted his guilt midway through his jury trial.
Each of the offences was committed in September 2020, when Smith and co-offender Kye Jayden Rowe, 21, took a stolen BMW to a Kambah home, broke in and demanded one of the occupants pay a purported debt.
Rowe ordered this man's housemate to tie him up with charging cables and an extension cord before wandering away to different parts of the property to search for valuables.
The man said to owe "thousands of dollars" to an unknown third party was baffled by the claim, and Crown prosecutor Rebecca Christensen SC described him as a "completely innocent" victim who was "just minding his own business" when the intruders burst in.
While confused by the demands, he offered to call a friend and ask for money "just to have all of this over".
The man made several phone calls to this friend, but they went unanswered.
As the incident continued, Smith told the victims Rowe was his "apprentice" and that the younger man was training for "this sort of stuff".
He also pointed a knife at one of his captives' necks and threatened to slit both of their throats if they did not stop talking quietly to each other.
Eventually, the restrained victim's housemate managed to flee the home with Rowe in pursuit.
Once Smith had been left alone in a bedroom with the man who was tied up, he started dousing him, his dog and his bed in petrol, getting fuel in his mouth and eyes.
The petrol-soaked man pleaded with Smith not to set him on fire, but the 32-year-old lit a lighter and was about to throw it when the victim kicked him in the stomach and caused him to fall out of the room.
The man then barricaded himself in the room as Smith tried to get back in.
As Smith and Rowe left the scene, they took a Ford Ranger belonging to the victim who had run to get help. They also stole the petrol-soaked man's iPhone.
In sentencing, acting Justice Norrish said the victims' response must have made it clear to the intruders that they "had the wrong people" if they were indeed enforcing a debt.
He said the experience for both victims would obviously have been "very frightening", labelling the splashing of petrol and lighting of the lighter "a very serious act indeed".
"The conduct of the two offenders was entirely unjustified, and there can be no excuse whatsoever," he said.
The judge said he had received a handwritten note from Smith, who claimed to remember little of the events because he was affected by alcohol and illicit drugs at the time.
Acting Justice Norrish said he found claims of memory loss "difficult to accept".
He said Smith also claimed to have succumbed to loneliness and accepted an invitation to "hang out" with Rowe on the day in question to celebrate the younger man's birthday.
With time already served on remand, Smith will become eligible for parole in November 2025.
Rowe, who was previously sentenced to a minimum of 22 months behind bars, becomes eligible for parole next month.
