No jail for home invader

A SCORNED man who “smoked a bit of ice” before breaking in to a house with a crowbar looking for a man who had slept with a woman he knew has avoided jail.

Geordie Unwin stormed into a Colac house by kicking down the door in September last year and left the woman inside “terrified”, the County Court heard on Friday.

“It was your intention to assault someone inside the house,” Judge Nola Karapanagiotidis said.

She said there was “bad blood” between Unwin and the male, who slept with the woman who was in the house.

The court heard Unwin took two mates to the scene, and in the lead-up to the break-in Unwin told friends the man had “ruined his life” and that he was “gunna get it this time.”

The court heard Unwin reflecting on the incident said: “At that time I’d smoked a bit of ice.”

The woman who was confronted in the house at 11.30pm recognised Unwin, who ran from the house a short time later.

As police arrived at the scene, Unwin hid “in a hollow” near a train line.

The court heard Unwin’s offending was not “sophisticated” and that he did not conceal his identity when he barged into the house.

Judge Karapanagiotidis said jail would “impede rather than improve” Unwin’s rehabilitation prospects.

The court heard Unwin had a 10-year history of drug use, had anxiety and depression, and had sought treatment for his mental health issues voluntarily.

Judge Karapanagiotidis sentenced Unwin, who pleaded guilty to one charge of aggravated burglary, to an 18month community corrections order that will require him to complete 100 hours of community work and seek treatment for his mental health issues.