A judge says he's mystified as to why a Canberra mother joined in an hours-long "sadistic torture" session at her Moncrieff home.
Justice David Mossop sentenced Mary John Ayuel in the ACT Supreme Court on Thursday to a total two years and four months in prison, to be suspended after 10 months.
She previously pleaded guilty to unlawfully confining a man and choking him on October 2, 2019, but prosecutor Soraya Saikal-Skea said the woman's offending went beyond that.
An agreed statement of facts said the 22-year-old mother threatened her cousin with a knife, dragged him into the laundry, told him she'd cut his throat, kicked him in the head, jumped up and down on his head, inserted the knife into his mouth, and strangled him with an electrical cable on October 2.
The court on Thursday heard Ayuel attacked the man amid an hours-long torture session, which kicked off when her co-offender, 27-year-old Clinton Saki, accused him of stealing $450.
Saki tied the man's hands behind his back, beat him with electrical cables, burnt him with a clothing iron, burnt his hair using a lighter, and threatened to kill the man and cut off his penis after about 7.30am. Saki is yet to be sentenced.
Another man, 30-year-old Chol Bol Nyuon, was in June sentenced to about three-and-a-half months' prison for his role in the ordeal.
Justice Mossop said the woman's motivation to join in the attack about 12pm remained mysterious. He said she ultimately paid Saki the $450 that was in contention; contributing to the fact "none of what went on makes much sense".
"Although the motivation is mysterious, the conduct is very serious," Justice Mossop said.
He said the victim, who described what he endured as sadistic torture, had been completely traumatised by the "violent, threatening and degrading conduct", but noted Ayuel only participated in confining him for about four hours.
Justice Mossop said the whole ordeal went for more than eight hours.
He noted Ayuel's youth and good prospects for rehabilitation, and suspended her sentence from Thursday to account for the time she's already served behind bars.
Ayuel will have to comply with a good behaviour order for 18 months.
