A judge has acknowledged the tragic circumstances in which a man was murdered because of mistaken identity, telling the victim's family "he should not have died".
"You have experienced enormous pain and should not have experienced the death of this valued family member, so very loved," Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson told Glenn Walewicz's relatives on Friday.
She made the comment as Jayden Douglas Williams, who was involved in planning the botched home invasion attempt that culminated in the killing, faced the ACT Supreme Court for a sentence hearing.
Williams, 20, has been behind bars on remand since he was arrested and charged in June 2022 with being an accessory to the murder of Mr Walewicz, who was 48.
That allegation was later withdrawn when Williams agreed to plead guilty to attempted aggravated burglary, admitting he had aided and abetted a group that tried to invade the Phillip home of two drug-dealers in 2021.
On Friday, defence barrister Stephen Robinson said Williams was many hours' drive away, in rural NSW, when he arranged over the phone for a 17-year-old boy to participate in the planned intrusion.
The teenager, who cannot be named because he was under 18, ultimately shot Mr Walewicz dead when he and two other would-be home invaders went to the wrong door.
Mr Robinson argued it was significant that Williams had, according to prosecutors, been drawn into the home invasion plot by his mother, Nicole, who is alleged to have been the plan's "primary architect".
The barrister told the court Nicole Williams, who has pleaded not guilty to charges laid over her alleged involvement, had raised his client in "a tragic way" that exposed him to neglect, drugs and violence.
He submitted that the 20-year-old had "a bright future", tendering artwork Williams had produced behind bars as he urged Justice Loukas-Karlsson to give the young man "a new start, unencumbered".
Pushing for Williams to be sentenced to time served, Mr Robinson noted getaway driver Reatile Ncube, a more culpable co-offender, only had to do about half the time his client had already completed in custody.
Prosecutor Trent Hickey argued Williams should be supervised upon his release from custody, asking Justice Loukas-Karlsson to impose further prison time that could be either suspended or served on parole.
He accepted Williams had a deprived background but said his upbringing contributed to his poor choices.
"Trying to correct that disadvantage will take some time," Mr Hickey said, arguing Williams being supervised upon re-entry into society would benefit both him and the community.
Justice Loukas-Karlsson, who heard a victim impact statement Mr Walewicz's mother, Jenny, had previously prepared for a related sentencing, acknowledged Williams "did not have the best start in life".
"No child should have to grow up in those circumstances that you grew up in," the judge told the 20-year-old, who has a young family.
"It is very important the next generation is not blighted like yours was."
The judge indicated she would hand down a sentence on August 14.
