![The house was on Goonoo Goonoo Road in Tamworth. File picture The house was on Goonoo Goonoo Road in Tamworth. File picture](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/afalkenmire/69dda018-dccd-4187-b373-3c3fc47c0031.jpg/r0_0_3673_2218_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
TWO men could be released with time served after a baseball bat and hunting knife were wielded to intimidate a man in his own home over lost drugs.
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Adam Nathan Green and Robert Gregory Waters pleaded guilty to two charges each in connection to the Tamworth offending, which had left a man with "psychological" and physical injuries.
The pair have been behind bars since their arrest in April last year and are being held in custody at Tamworth Correctional Centre.
They appeared via video link in Armidale District Court on Tuesday, after pleading guilty the day before.
They shook hands when they found out during sentencing their non-parole periods were up that day.
Judge Stephen Hanley wished the pair luck in the community, and warned them to stay out of trouble, or they will be targets around town.
"You're clearly not very good at criminal offending," he told them.
The court heard 35-year-old Green was looking for three 'eight-balls' of drugs he believed had been taken when he and two others went to a home on Goonoo Goonoo Road in the early morning of April 6, 2021.
Green was carrying a baseball bat and Waters, 45, was not armed. A third co-offender, who remains on the run, was wielding a hunting knife as they entered the house about 5am.
Judge Hanley said they were wearing "somewhat ridiculous" disguises to cover their faces despite being known to the victim, the resident of the home.
The court heard the victim told them to "f*** off" but Green said "where's my gear", which was then repeated by Waters as the three searched the house.
According to the agreed facts, the co-offender with the knife pointed it at the victim, who grabbed it from him, before Green punched him in the head and the trio fled the scene.
The victim was taken to hospital and experienced some dizziness, the court was told.
"It's spontaneously committed, it's a single punch ... there's no lasting injury," Green's defence barrister James Lang said.
"It's spontaneously started and finished."
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He said Green was "desperate to recover" the drugs that he thought were at the address and was only carrying the baseball bat for intimidation.
The court heard Green was using about 1.5g of ice every day at the time.
Waters' defence barrister Steven Doupe said Waters had a lower level of objective seriousness.
"He was indeed the last through the door, so to speak, he was not a physical participant in the actual bodily harm offence," he said.
The court heard both men had lived through difficult circumstances. The traumatic background of Waters' childhood was detailed to the court, and the health conditions he lived with.
The Crown prosecutor said the offending had the potential to be "far more serious" than it was.
Judge Hanley said the offending had taken a "psychological" toll on the victim, who "doesn't feel safe at home" now.
He said the victim had shown "considerable courage" by taking the knife.
Judge Hanley said he found that Green was "probably the instigator" and had "recruited the other two offenders to assist him".
He said that although Waters was not armed, his presence itself was intimidating.
Judge Hanley said he found special circumstances because of the onerous time in custody during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Green was sentenced to a total of three years behind bars; while Waters was handed two years and nine months. They each became eligible for parole from Tuesday.
Both were due to stand trial in Tamworth next year, but admitted to the new charges in court this week.
They pleaded guilty to entering a house with the intent to intimidate in company; as well as assault occasioning actual bodily harm in the company of others.
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