Peter John Harmann, Phillip Anthony Harika, Jake O’Reilly sentenced over violent home invasion

Balaclava-clad men, armed with a machete, crowbar and hatchet, spent 45 minutes in a Craigieburn house before fleeing with a haul of items and a dog.

Three men will remain behind bars after being sentenced for a violent home invasion on a cocaine dealer’s home.

Following a 15-day trial in which they were each found guilty of a string of offences, Peter John Hamann, 49, and Phillip Anthony Harika, 45, were each sentenced in the County Court on Monday for their involvement in the incident on September 24, 2018.

Jake O’Reilly, 33, who had pleaded guilty, was also sentenced.

The court heard O’Reilly had instigated the aggravated home invasion at a Craigieburn house he had been “sussing out for months” as he was “desperate” for money to repay a $600 debt to feed his own drug addiction.

Handing down his sentence, Judge Kevin Doyle said the couple who lived at the home were woken by their dog barking downstairs about 12.30am.

Hearing banging, glass shattering and shouting, the man went downstairs to investigate while the woman hid in the ensuite bathroom.

Immediately apparent intruders were trying to enter, the man pushed back on the door in an attempt to keep them at bay — but failed when the blade of a makeshift sword slashed through it.

Three people wearing balaclavas and carrying weapons, including a machete, hatchet and crowbar, gained entry and began to demand to know where “the money” was.

When the man replied that he didn’t know what they were talking about, O’Reilly hit him with the machete.

Hamann then snatched it, saying he would use it “properly”, and brought it down hard on the man’s arm.

He then went upstairs and asked the woman — who was cowering in a corner of the bathroom — if she had “ever been with an older man before”.

The men herded the victim around the home as they ransacked it and snatched up items of value, including clothes, shoes, handbags, jewellery, laptops and game consoles, which they packed into bags as they went.

The trio continued to demand money, possessions and cars from the man as he bled “profusely” from the deep cut on his arm.

Jake O'Reilly has been sentenced for initiating an aggravated home invasion on a cocaine dealer's house.

At one point the victim fell to the ground and frustrated they weren’t finding enough valuables, Hamann kicked him in the face three or four times and told him he was not there “to play”.

He handed O’Reilly the hatchet and said: “I’m sick of this kid. Just cut off his toe”.

The victim was pushed up the stairs to the main bedroom and threatened by Hamann.

Before they grabbed a packet of Doritos and packed the items stolen from the house and numerous power tools into the victim’s black Chrysler, Hamann and Harika told the victim they were taking his dog and would only return it if he left $20,000 by the gate.

They said that if he didn’t, somebody would return to the house and “put holes in him”.

Hamann’s last words before he left were another threat:

“If you call the cops, if I see them here or if you list the car as stolen then I will get someone to come back and finish the job for me.”

The men and the dog then went and paid O’Reilly’s $600 debt.

All three were arrested in the days afterwards and remanded in custody.

The court heard O’Reilly’s prison call records revealed him organising false alibis and trying to enlist others to make the victim retract his statement.

Judge Doyle said his sentences reflected that Hamann, who had a relevant criminal history, acted “mercilessly” and was the principle offender behind the assaults.

He was sentenced to nine years and eight months, with a non-parole period of seven years and three months. He has served 1,346 days in pre-sentence detention.

O’Reilly — a father of young children who had dreams of being a professional baseballer but works as a boilermaker — was sentenced to seven years and one month because he pleaded guilty.

He must spend four years and seven months in prison before he is eligible for parole, with his 1203 days in pre-sentence detention reckoned as time served.

The court was told Harika had a criminal record and has previously served time in prison, but more recently has found religion. He was sentenced to nine years with a non-parole period of six years and 10 months. He has spent 1434 days in pre-sentence detention.