A Ballarat man who trashed a Sebastopol home with a baseball bat as an act of revenge subjected his victims to a "traumatic and frightening experience," a court has heard.
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Aaron Perry, 50, pleaded guilty to four charges in the Victorian County Court on Thursday including burglary, criminal damage and theft.
According to a summary read by the prosecution, Perry was upset after he believed the man he hired to mow his lawns behaved inappropriately towards his partner while she was in their garage.
After hearing about the incident, Perry angrily called the man and said "what the f*** did you do to [my partner]?".
He also told the man to never return to mow his lawns, and threatened to punch him in the face the next time he saw him.
About a week later, on December 11, 2021, at 10pm Perry and an associate went to the man's house looking for him.
The man wasn't home, but his housemate opened the door to the pair who were both wearing face masks, while Perry's associate was holding a sharpened wooden 'stabbing stick.'
It is not alleged Perry was aware his associate, who has been charged in a different court, was in possession of the weapon when they entered the house.
When the pair were told the man wasn't home, Perry asked if they could check and entered the premises.
The two men then checked every room in the house looking for the man.
While Perry was in the man's bedroom, he took a baseball bat which was lying next to his bed, and smashed the interior of the bedroom as well as parts of the living room.
When the housemate told Perry he should consult the police instead of wrecking their home he said "this is way more fun."
Before leaving the house, Perry and his associate took a gold watch belonging to the man, as well as the baseball bat they found in his bedroom.
After the pair left, the man's housemate called the police who then searched the crime scene.
Perry was arrested by police on December 22, 2021, and when questioned, he said he was invited into the house and didn't steal anything except the baseball bat, which he took as a safety measure.
He also said he had to confront the man about the incident with his partner because the police didn't do anything about it, but denied smashing anything in the house.
Defence counsel for Perry said the man was frustrated and angry about the incident with his partner, and had committed a "gross error of judgment."
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They said Perry "sincerely regrets" the incident, and only had minor prior criminal charges, so a community corrections order (CCO) which addressed his issues with alcohol and anger management would be an appropriate punishment.
Prosecution argued a prison sentence for Perry would be necessary owing to the severity of the offence, which was motivated by a desire to punish the man after police hadn't responded like he thought they should have.
They said the offence was terrifying for both the man and his housemate, and had an ongoing impact on their lives.
"When Mr Perry found he wasn't there, he could have left and walked out, [but] he sought revenge, and went and damaged and took property," they said.
Judge Gavan Meredith said there were no excuses for the way Perry had behaved, but that he had been assessed as a low risk of reoffending.
He said Perry had subjected his victims "to what could only be a traumatic and frightening experience."
Perry was sentenced to a CCO where he must complete 150 hours of community work and receive assessment and treatment for alcohol abuse, and was fined $2000 to be paid over a period of three months.
Had Perry not pleaded guilty, Judge Meredith said he would have sentenced him to two years and three months in prison with a non-parole period of 15 months.
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