Two Shepparton men have each been sentenced to 400 hours of community work following a home invasion in 2017.
Daniel Noel Knight, 27, and Brandon Peter May, 26, each pleaded guilty to one charge of home invasion and one charge of intentionally causing injury in relation to the incident which left their victim with multiple lacerations to the top of his head, ear, arm, leg and foot, a bruised eye and split lip.
While County Court Judge John Smallwood acknowledged the offending was "serious", he said it was in the middle to low range.
“You're two young men who have done the right thing up until this one night of madness,” he said.
“To put you into a custodial situation would seem to serve no useful purpose ... I have given you a very significant number of (community work) hours so other young fellas who want to act like this know the consequences can be very dramatic.”
The court heard Knight and May attended an address in Shepparton on the evening of September 9, 2017, with two other co-accused, where they assaulted the home owner who was inside at the time with his girlfriend.
The pair was known to the accused.
Prior to the incident Knight and May had been drinking alcohol at a party in Shepparton East before they and the co-accused drove to the victim's address.
The court heard when they arrived May broke the window next to the front door before the door was kicked open and the accused entered the house.
The victim, who ran away from the door, was pushed from behind by one of the accused, causing him to fall into a window.
He was then punched several times to the face before a Jim Beam bottle was smashed over his head.
Knight was interviewed and arrested at Shepparton Police Station on September 20, 2017, where he told police he attended the house but did not enter.
May was later interviewed and arrested at Shepparton Police Station on October 12, 2017, where he admitted to being drunk on the night and punching the victim, however he denied hitting him over the head with the bottle.
When sentencing Knight and May in Melbourne's County Court on June 24, Judge Smallwood said they had both "expressed appropriate remorse" over the incident.
“It was a situation of going there as a deliberate confrontation, I don't think the intent was to do anything,” he said.
“Four alcohol-affected young men with very little experience in the criminal jurisdiction egging each other on and the matter getting out of control.”
Judge Smallwood acknowledged neither of the accused had an ongoing alcohol problem, both had a "very good" work record and the risk of them doing something similar was "remote".
He said he took into account the fact they had experienced a significant delay in getting their matter finalised along with the current prison concerns surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic.
“You have endeavoured to get on with life, continued to work — each of you is a valued and useful member of the community,” Judge Smallwood said.
“To see two young men in this situation with good work records and good prospects is not the most common thing that one comes across.
“A community correction order with a very significant number of work hours has an aspect of general deterrence.”
Knight and May were each sentenced to a four-year community correction order with 400 hours of community work.