Norlane woman Esther Sidiris, 43, applies for bail over frightening alleged Corio home invasion

A Norlane woman accused of a shocking home invasion, where two victims were allegedly threatened with a loaded gun and told they’d be “popped” and cut up by a machete, is fighting for bail.

Two men allegedly involved in the home invasion were arrested on Tennyson Street in Norlane.

A Norlane woman accused of a terrifying home invasion, where two victims were allegedly threatened with a loaded gun and told they’d be “popped” and cut up with a machete, is fighting for bail.

Esther Sidiris, 43, has applied for bail after serving 102 days in custody following the alleged aggravated home invasion at a Corio home last year.

The Geelong Magistrates Court was told Ms Sidiris, and two co-accused men, allegedly entered a St Georges Rd unit at 6.24am on December 17 through a broken front window armed with a loaded hand gun, machete and a wooden stake.

The home invasion is alleged to have occurred at a home on St Georges Road in Corio.

Prosecuting lawyer Martin Radzaj alleged one of the victims woke to find they were being struck over the head with the piece of wood, while the other was hit in the face with a guitar.

The court heard a co-accused then allegedly produced a “black coloured hand pistol” and handed it to Ms Sidiris, who allegedly brandished the gun while standing on the bed telling the victims: “I’m going to pop you, where do you think I’m going to pop you?”

She then allegedly removed the magazine from the pistol displaying the ammunition, saying “I told you it was real, I’m going to pop you.”

Mr Radzaj told the court one of the co-accused then displayed a machete, allegedly telling the victims “do you want me to cut you up?”

The victims were allegedly told to strip naked and lie on the bed while the room was ransacked.

A vehicle and a number of items were stolen from the home, the court was told.

Ms Sidiris, who was on bail at the time of the alleged offence, was arrested later that day and the court head she confessed to her involvement on December 18.

Two men allegedly involved in the home invasion were arrested on Tennyson Street in Norlane.

The court heard detectives from the Geelong Criminal Investigation Unit had obtained CCTV footage showing the accused enter the St Georges St unit.

A black firearm and a machete was also seized in the roof of a Tennyson St address in Norlane, where the two co-accused were arrested on December 22.

Defence lawyer Tom Battersby told the court his client would begin an intensive 28 day program at the AFTR Rehab centre in Melbourne if she was granted bail, and reside at her mother’s address in Reservoir.

He said Ms Sidiris was lead by her co-accused to commit the aggravated home invasion after they met at the Gateway Hotel at 4am on the morning in question.

The Gateway Hotel in Corio.

Ms Sidiris, who was affected by methamphetamine at the time, claims she only met the pair four days earlier after she invited them into her home.

She is charged with aggravated home invasion with a firearm, armed robbery, aggravated burglary, intentionally causing injury and theft from motor vehicle.

In opposing bail, Mr Radzaj told the court the category one offence carried a maximum jail term of 25 years and was at “the upper end of offending”.

He said the defenceless victims were “asleep at the time” of the offence with the machete, wooden stake and hand gun brought to the home with “threats to kill”.

“They are weapons of great lethality,” he said.

“The gun was loaded, a very serious aggravating feature.”

Detective Senior Constable Bianca Shirra, who took the stand during the bail application, said the offence was “a very serious example of aggravated home invasion”.

“She (Ms Sidiris) has an extensive history of committing offences while on bail,” she told the court.

Magistrate Simon Guthrie adjourned his decision until Thursday.

Originally published as Norlane woman Esther Sidiris, 43, applies for bail over frightening alleged Corio home invasion