Joshua Waters sentenced for violent East Lismore home invasion

A man who was sentenced for a violent East Lismore home invasion was ‘desperate for drugs’ leading to the attack, the court heard.

A drug-fuelled spiral has been revealed as the sad set of circumstances behind a violent East Lismore home invasion.

Joshua Waters, 39, sat in Lismore District Court on Tuesday in prison greens as he was sentenced for the January 16 home invasion last year.

He had pleaded guilty to larceny, assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and aggravated enter of a dwelling in company with intent to steal.

The court heard Waters and an unknown co-accused broken into the East Lismore property in an attempt to steal money and drugs from a dealer who Waters’ co-accused had a disagreement with.

Wearing surgical gloves and a mask, Waters was caught out by the secondary occupant of the home who had come in from mowing.

Waters began scuffling and punching the victim.

The man knelt on the ground while Waters punched his face and slapped him, the court heard.

Waters’ co-accused then stabbed the man, an injury to which Waters was deemed not criminally responsible for.

The pair stole a Samsung phone, two Samsung tablets, an Ipad and cash.

As a result of Waters’ violence, the man was taken to hospital and had bruising under his eye, and grazes to his lips and under eye.

The court heard in the lead-up to the offence a couch surfing Waters had been using heroin and meth daily and had stopped taking medication for his longstanding and significant schizophrenia.

Judge Jeffrey McLennan said it was clear Waters had been a part of the invasion in order to steal drugs and money for drugs.

The court heard from a report from Community Corrections officer in which Waters acknowledged he was ‘desperate for drugs and not concerned about the consequences’ of the home invasion.

He also shared remorse over the incident, with the court hearing ‘(Waters) feels he loses judgement while on drugs’.

The 39-year-old who had a history of drug-influenced offending and a traumatic childhood, was supported by his two parents who sat in the public gallery.

The court heard submissions from Waters’ father who said when his son was medicated for his schizophrenia there was ‘ a real shift in his demeanour and behaviour’.

Judge McLennan acknowledged the road to rehabilitation was entirely up the Waters.

“It is obvious...if Mr Waters can do that, namely take control of his own mental health, he has the intelligence and potential to make a success of his life,” he said.

He convicted Waters on all three counts and sentenced him to an aggregated sentence of 18 months jail, with a non-parole period of six months, backdated to December 24,2021.

The sentence meant Waters will be eligible for parole in three days.