Seven months after he broke into the home of Gold Logie winner Asher Keddie and tried to steal her husband's prized motorbike, James Powell is turning his life around.
The 45-year-old appeared before Melbourne Magistrate Court on Tuesday where he said he was "feeling really good" with his life following months of rehabilitation and support.
"(I have) taken my son to school for first time," he said.
His lawyer also confirmed he has not had any run-ins with police.
Powell has admitted breaking into a garage belonging to Keddie and her artist husband Vincent Fantauzzo on the morning of December 28.
The court was previously told that as Powell was wheeling out a motorbike, with helmet in hand, Keddie heard a noise and discovered the burglar had taken her husband's prized $40,000 Ducati Scrambler motorbike.
She screamed for her husband who ran down a side path of their St Kilda home, yelling for Powell to stop, but as he reached for the accused's shoulder, Powell turned and swung, connecting with Fantauzzo's face.
Fantauzzo tackled him back, leading to a scuffle on the ground where Powell was restrained by the artist with the help of a passer-by until police arrived.
Powell lost consciousness shortly after police arrested him and paramedics had to be called to take him to hospital, with a drug overdose possibly brought on by the physical confrontation.
Powell faced a deferred sentencing on Tuesday, which allows a court to postpone sentencing an offender to give them an opportunity to address their behaviour and demonstrate rehabilitation before a final sentence is imposed.
His lawyer said he had shown positive engagement in a bail support program and recommended it come to an end.
Magistrate Vincenzo Caltabiano praised Powell for his hard work and updated his bail conditions to swap out bail support and transitioned him to attend a specialist court that helps people address underlying factors contributing to their offending.
But he retained Powell's curfew condition.
"Depending on how things go, we can have a conversation (about that). The hard work pays off over time," the magistrate said.
Fantauzzo is a world-renowned artist who has won the Archibald Prize's People's Choice Award four times.
Keddie is best known for her role in Australian drama Offspring for which she won the Gold Logie in 2013 and also took home the Most Popular Actress Logie five times in a row.
