A serial criminal has told a court he welcomes stern community supervision, apologising for his many "violent crimes" and to "the people I've hurt".
"It is, in my view, an uncommon thing for people to desire strict monitoring in the community because it is oppressive," Justice Louise Taylor said on Friday.
The judge said the prison system often "only squashes [the] aspiration" of those repeatedly exposed to it.
Aaron Kenneth Campbell spoke directly to the court during the ACT Supreme Court sentencing proceedings for his latest crimes of violence and dishonesty.
"I've had a lot to time to think about it, it's not the way to go in life," he said.
"I've had a hard upbringing but I've used that against other people and I shouldn't have."
During a discussion about her client's reform attempt, defence barrister Katrina Musgrove said the man had "turned a corner" after maturing in his late 30s and during his latest custodial stint.
"There was one comment that the drugs in the AMC were too expensive for him," she said.
She also told the court the prisoner was entrusted with a box of tools in his role as an electrician assistant. Those tools, Ms Musgrove said, could be weapons in the wrong hands.
But Campbell's release from custody remains up in the air as he awaits a sentence for multiple robbery-related charges after three separate violent incidents from 2022.
A victim of one night-time home invasion carried out by Campbell and co-offender Ivan Djerke described the robbery as an "utterly terrifying experience".
Campbell would threaten a dog if one of his victims didn't stop shouting during that incident.
The possibility of the man genuinely reforming would be welcome news to the community, with his extensive criminal history including a slew of convictions for assault, robbery and burglary.
Prosecutor Morgan Howe said the real test for Campbell would be once he is released from prison, but conceded there may be a "light at the end of the tunnel" as the offender's counsel had suggested.
In the meantime, he awaits punishment for crimes that include a two-night robbery spree on homes in Kambah and Holt.
Campbell and Djerke took either knives or a machete, and a crowbar, and broke into the homes to frighten occupants and demand either money or drugs.
They would attack and threaten a woman in one home and assault a man in the other. The co-offenders made off with a car, speaker, CCTV system, phone, laptop and three toolboxes.
Earlier that year, Campbell left a man's head "gushing blood" after a "frantic" machete attack during a late-night car wash meet-up.
He was found guilty of attempted aggravated robbery, assault occasioning actual bodily harm and property damage after a judge-alone trial late last year.
CCTV captured the violent Calwell car park incident.
Justice Taylor reserved her sentencing decision until a late date.
