A stalker has avoided a jail sentence after he barged into a girl's home and grabbed her near the throat, pushed her "forcefully" into a brick wall and bombarded her with unwanted messages.
Matthew Sydrych, 22, was sentenced in the ACT Magistrates Court on Friday to a series of good behaviour orders, a $750 fine and 104 hours of community service.
A statement of agreed facts reveals Sydrych turned up at his teenage victim's south Canberra home late on January 17 when she would not answer his calls.
The fearful girl, who had known Sydrych for about two-and-a-half years, hid in her room with a friend and closed all the curtains and blinds to make it look like no one was home.
Sydrych, undeterred, shone a torch through the windows and continued moving around the house for about half an hour.
The girl, realising the back door was open, went to lock it and decided to tell Sydrych to leave at the same time.
But Sydrych would not listen and shoved his way past the girl to get inside, shouting "who's in the house?" before pushing her into the wall and looking through every room.
He finally left after being told to go several times by the girl and her friend.
The agreed facts also show that during a six-day period in January, Sydrych sent the girl 138 messages from his Facebook and Instagram accounts.
He was arrested at a welding business in Fyshwick on January 28 and subsequently pleaded guilty to four charges including stalking, common assault and trespassing.
On Friday, prosecutor Erin Priestly told the court there was a significant power imbalance between Sydrych and his much younger victim.
Ms Priestly said the stalker's behaviour had robbed the victim of the right to feel safe in her own home, and Sydrych still did not appear to appreciate the seriousness of his crimes.
The court heard that a court duty report indicated Sydrych remained "very focused on himself" rather than the impact of his offending on the victim.
"There really is little insight into his behaviour or [acceptance of] responsibility for his offending," Ms Priestly said.
She argued that a jail sentence was warranted.
Sydrych's barrister, Steven Whybrow, conceded his client had "acted appallingly", but said the threshold for a jail term had not been crossed.
He described Sydrych's behaviour as being "irrational, insane and inappropriate" at times, but said it stemmed from immaturity and difficulties experienced as a child.
Mr Whybrow said Sydrych would benefit from "some sort of ongoing intervention", such as counselling, to further his progress towards rehabilitation.
The barrister also called evidence from Sydrych's mother, who described the 22-year-old as "a good kid" who would never intentionally hurt anyone.
Sydrych's mother also detailed her extensive efforts to help him understand the seriousness of his offending and comply with his bail conditions.
The family support available to Sydrych provided some comfort to Magistrate Beth Campbell, who told the offender that without this and the benefit of having no prior criminal history she may have sent him to jail.
Ms Campbell told Sydrych he appeared to have operated with an attitude of entitlement that had left his victim "terrified".
"It certainly doesn't reflect well on you," the magistrate told Sydrych.
Ms Campbell handed Sydrych three concurrent 12-month good behaviour orders with associated community service conditions, and ordered that he pay the fine within three months.
A large band of supporters accompanied Sydrych to court, though all but his mother and brother had to stay in the hallways outside the courtroom because of social distancing measures.
Sydrych hugged his mother outside court as the visibly relieved group left following the sentencing.
