A teenager who violently assaulted and robbed a man "may have been somewhat led down the garden path," a judge has said.
Earlier this week the ACT Supreme Court handed the burglar, who cannot be named due to his age at the time of his crimes, a two-year suspended jail sentence.
He previously pleaded guilty to charges of aggravated burglary and joint commission assault occasioning actual bodily harm.
Justice Andrew Muller said the crimes "must have engendered intense fear in the victim compounding his undoubted symptoms of pain".
The burglar was 17 when, in June 2025, he and three others arrived at an apartment complex in Turner.
They gained entry by deceiving another resident to open the door via the intercom. The teen said his mother had left her bag inside and he needed access to retrieve it.
The resident was in his apartment when he heard muffled voices and loud knocking on another unit's door. He looked out to see a man wearing a black head covering, a white hooded jumper and holding a Japanese-style sword. The resident then called triple zero.
When the victim opened the door the burglars pushed him to the ground and hit him on the head with a pole.
The victim was then kicked and hit with other poles before being dragged through the apartment.
The robbers ransacked the victim's bedroom and packed several pairs of shoes into a fitted bed sheet.
When police arrived the offenders fled and dropped the stolen items and weapons.
The teenager was found underneath a car in a nearby car park and he was arrested.
He then said he freaked out and began running, not knowing what to do.
"I did not know we were going to do that," the 17-year-old told police.
Justice Muller said the victim suffered several blows to the body and head which caused significant injuries including a scalp wound that needed to be stapled.
The judge said the teenage offender "may have been somewhat led down the garden path" by the more mature and experienced members of the group.
On the day of the robbery he had taken a new illicit drug, called "nazixnans", a street version of Xanax.
