THREE men and a woman who used sex to lure a man, 48, into a trap, stormed his house while he had his pants down and struck him in the head with a large sword, fracturing his skull, have been jailed in Newcastle District Court.
She wasn't armed, but Judge Tim Gartelmann, SC, said Dwyer's role was instrumental in the terrifying home invasion robbery; she seized on the opportunity to rob the man who contacted her looking for sex on a popular online classifieds website, recruited the others, tricked the victim into leaving the front door open during their liaison, lured him into a position where he was vulnerable and then sent text messages to the others telling them to attack.
It was the early hours of January 12 last year and the group drove to a house at Cardiff and Dwyer went inside.
She was given $300 and told the victim to remove his pants. But while he was doing that, Dwyer texted those outside: "Yep, now".
Hicks and Shortland, armed with a sword and a metal pole and wearing masks, came through the door and Hicks immediately smashed the victim in the head with a sword, fracturing his skull.
Meanwhile, Dwyer was raiding the man's bedroom where she stole another $350.
The victim struggled with Hicks and managed to get him out of the house before Shortland smashed him in the back with the metal pole.
The victim then chased Shortland into the house, cornering him and driving him into the ground heavily, causing Shortland to suffer a seizure. He threw Shortland outside and the group fled in Sullivan's car.
Dwyer, Hicks and Shortland were all jailed for a maximum of three years and nine months, with a non-parole period of two years and three months.
Sullivan - who had been on bail - was jailed for a maximum of three years and six months, with a non-parole period of two years and one month.
The group will be released in either late 2022 or 2023.
