Troy Graham faces ACT Supreme Court over Canberra home invasion

Guns were stolen during a violent home invasion in Canberra, which left one of the victims with a broken neck. Here’s the latest from court.

A gun, which police believe to be the firearm Troy Graham wielded while carrying out a home invasion in Canberra's south in July 2022. Picture: Supplied

Two victims of a violent home invasion have described living in fear in the wake of the terrifying incident, which left one of them with a broken neck.

The ordeal has also made the couple’s teenage son suicidal, the ACT Supreme Court heard as intruder Troy William Graham faced a sentence hearing on Monday.

Graham, 26, is behind bars on remand after pleading guilty to joint commission aggravated robbery and two charges of unauthorised possession or use of firearms.

Court documents show the crimes were committed in July 2022, when one of Graham’s co-offenders saw a video of $3500 in cash on the teenage boy’s social media accounts.

He developed a ruse that involved buying vapes from the child, who was ambushed by two men upon opening the door of his south Canberra home to complete the sale.

The men forced their way into the home to search for the money, with one of them dragging the teenager around by the hair.

Sharon Stott outside court during an unrelated case in 2020.

The other, Graham, struck the boy’s father with the butt of a gun.

One of the men also assaulted the boy’s mother by hitting her in the head, causing her to fall and strike her stomach on the base of a bed.

The intruders eventually came across a gun safe, which the boy’s father opened for them after they had repeatedly kicked, grabbed and kneed him.

The pair eventually left with six guns that had been stored inside the safe.

A third person, who had stayed outside the home in Kambah, entered towards the end of the incident to steal ammunition from the safe.

Police later located two of the stolen guns at the home of well-known Canberra criminal Sharon Stott, who contacted officers to say Graham and another man had dropped them off.

Also in her backyard were two other firearms, one of which police believe to be the weapon Graham was wielding when he entered the victims’ home.

On Monday, a prosecutor read out victim impact statements written by the boy’s parents.

The father, whose injuries included a fractured vertebrae, said doctors had advised him he would endure lifelong pain.

ACT Supreme Court.

He also described living in fear of another home invasion, being placed on light duties at work and having to regularly attend counselling sessions and hydrotherapy.

The boy’s mother, who has epilepsy, wrote that the stress of the incident had brought on more regular seizures.

Since the home invasion, she said she had experienced seizures that had resulted in a broken leg and facial fractures.

“I can’t sleep at night without waking up in a sweat and crying,” the woman added.

Both parents detailed how their son had become reclusive and attempted suicide since the incident.

Graham, who has also pleaded guilty to an unrelated aggravated burglary, sat in the dock as his lawyer, Tom Taylor, told the court drugs had been a significant factor in the offending.

Mr Taylor also said the 26-year-old Indigenous man had “an unflattering record” and had spent so much time in jail he was “becoming institutionalised”.

The defence lawyer urged Acting Justice Peter Berman not to impose a “crushing” sentence, warning one might cause Graham to give up hope of a life outside prison.

The prosecutor urged the judge to be cautious about Graham’s prospects of rehabilitation.

Acting Justice Berman indicated he would sentence Graham on Tuesday.