A man had injected ice when he kicked open a door to his ex-partner's Mount Pleasant house, pinned her face-down on her bed and pointed a knife at her throat.
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Psychologist Ian McKinnon said Matthew Coolen's ice use at the time amplified his symptoms of polysubstance abuse and post-traumatic stress disorder, which were pre-existing conditions.
Mr McKinnon presented his findings at a further plea hearing in the County Court of Victoria on Thursday after assessing Coolen twice.
When asked if Coolen's polysubstance abuse or PTSD took a higher role in his offending, Mr McKinnon said it was hard to separate them but Coolen had had anti-social tendencies for some time.
"They existed from PTSD and polysubstance abuse," Mr McKinnon said.
Judge Carolene Gwynn said Coolen's offending on March 16, last year, read as like an ice-fuelled rage.
The 41-year-old man broke into his ex-partner's home when she refused to let him in to collect some of his property and 'ask her something' at 11pm.
A neighbour heard Coolen repeatedly scream "let me in b*tch" while the victim yelled "please go away".
The neighbour saw Coolen make two flying kicks to the front door, before putting on his bicycle helmet and yelling "game on b*tch".
Coolen forced the side roller door open, entered the garage and kicked open the laundry door, damaging the lock.
He had a black hunting knife in a sheath attached by a cable tie to the lower part of his right leg.
Coolen ran into the lounge room and attempted to grab the phone from the victim who was calling triple-0.
He chased the victim into her bedroom, tried to cover her mouth with his hand and threw her on the bed face down, pinning her head down and placing his knee into the side of her head.
Coolen pulled the hunting knife out of the sheath and pierced her jeans during a struggle, causing a small cut to her leg.
He pulled the knife up to the front of the victim's throat and said "shut the f*ck up" and "don't call the police".
Coolen backed off enough for the victim to push him away and he yelled "where is my money?", before calming down and leaving the area on his bicycle.
After hearing Mr McKinnon's evidence, the judge formed the opinion "both conditions (polysubstance abuse and PTSD) were in existence at the time of the offending and in some way provide an explanation for his response of not being let in".
"Long-standing PTSD and polysubstance abuse is amplified by drugs and he has trouble dealing with stressful situations," Judge Gwynn said.
Mr McKinnon said when he first assessed Coolen in custody, his PTSD was elevated and he was unstable due to the on-going conflict in his relationship and compounded by ice and GHB use.
Coolen was "quite stable and using his time productively" during the psychologist's second assessment.
The prosecution and defence made their final submissions to the court on Thursday. Coolen was remanded in custody until sentencing on Monday.
He pleaded guilty to aggravated burglary.
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