Brutal home invasion earns two Warwick men jail time

The drug deal turned “horrendously violent”, with one victim still suffering mental trauma from the incident.

The Fraser Coast home invasion left the 71-year-old woman damaged physically and emotionally.

TWO men who carried out a violent home invasion while "in the grips of meth" were slapped with a hefty jail sentence in Warwick District Court.

Jason Corey Brackin, 31, and Bailey Adam Dennison, 20, first caused trouble at a Warwick residence on September 9, 2019, when they arrived in the hopes of buying "crack" from an occupant. They were turned away twice that day and, on the second occasion, Brackin used an axe to break down the front door, but no harm was done to those inside.

Then, on September 19, 2019, around 4am, the men and a third offender broke into the same house, looking for drugs, this time armed with weapons, including knives.

The court heard two of the occupants locked themselves in their bedroom, but Dennison and the third offender rammed the door with a coffee table, then threatened the male resident with a knife to his throat and beat him with a hatchet.

Dennison found a third male resident, who had come out of his bedroom to see what the fuss was, threatened to kill him, then slashed his face with a large chef's knife, causing a wound that took 90 sutures to seal shut.

The three men took $120 in cash, $5500 of jewellery, two gaming consoles and a small quantity of marijuana before leaving the property.

Brackin and Dennison were arrested on the afternoon of the home invasion but were reportedly uncooperative with police, refusing to give interviews or the name of their accomplice.

Both men were charged with one count of wilful damage to property, one count of armed burglary with company, one count of armed robbery with personal violence, and one count of wounding.

They pleaded guilty to all offences when they appeared in Warwick District Court this morning.

Dennison was sentenced to five years in jail and Brackin had three years added to his suspended seven-year sentence for previous offences. Both men are eligible for parole in one year.

The court heard the male resident slashed on the face by Dennison now suffered from severe mental trauma as a result of the event.

He was unable to continue his career as a chef due to his ongoing fear of knives and leaving the house.

During sentencing, Judge Ken Barlow said he took this into consideration, along with both offenders' extensive and often violent criminal history.

"It doesn't appear that Mr Brackin has learned anything from his prior sentences," Judge Barlow said.

He said while Dennison's age gave him a better prospect of rehabilitation, he still "demonstrated somewhat of a predisposition to violence".

Judge Barlow warned both men that despite being "still young enough to get a hold of (their) lives", they should cut their ties to drugs, crime and violence to succeed.

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