A woman has avoided further jail time for her role in a home invasion where balaclava-wearing intruders threatened residents, including an 11-year-old child, with machetes and baseball bats.
Tania Hemmingsen, 25, pleaded guilty to multiple charges including aggravated burglary, taking a motor vehicle without consent, and furious driving.
In an ACT Supreme Court decision published on June 23, Hemmingsen was handed a three-year-and-11-month jail sentence.
Justice Verity McWilliam ordered the woman, who has a history of drug abuse, to serve the sentence by way of a drug and alcohol treatment order.
The judge found that Hemmingsen "more than likely" suffered from severe substance use disorder when she committed the crimes.
She said the woman had "strong prospects of rehabilitation, which if it can be achieved, is the most likely guarantor of continuing community safety".
As part of the conditions, Hemmingsen is to complete a drug rehabilitation program.
The recently published decision stated Hemmingsen's crimes took place across three days in January 2025.
Just after 10pm on January 8, the woman and two others broke into a home in Conder by smashing windows. They then threatened the residents, including a child, and stole a blue Holden Commodore.
When a neighbour came outside to help, he was struck on the hand with a baseball bat. The group then fled in the stolen Commodore and a white car.
Police later saw both vehicles being driven erratically, and the Commodore was found in Coombs that evening. A search of the vehicle uncovered a burnt orange baseball bat and a black sheath for a large knife.
The judge found there was a degree of premeditation in the "serious and prolonged" home invasion due to the presence of face coverings and weapons.
About 11am the following day, police were called to an apartment complex in Gungahlin after a motorbike was reported stolen from the car park during the early hours of the morning.
CCTV footage recorded just after 4am showed Hemmingsen and a second person using a screwdriver to force open a door leading into the car park where the motorbike was stolen.
Hemmingsen was also found to have been involved in the theft of a vehicle in Coombs on January 7.
She had spent 34 days in custody in relation to these crimes.
Justice McWilliam found that sentencing her to further full-time custody at the expense of completing the rehabilitation program "would likely undo the significant efforts she has made, and continues to make, to live a life without drugs and crime".
