A defence barrister for a Wagga man who detained people with the threat of a firearm on two occasions, one of which involved a standoff with police, has claimed his client did not pre-plan either incident.
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Carl Little, aged 32 and formerly of Ashmont, appeared in Wagga District Court on Thursday for sentencing on charges of break and enter for intimidation, detain person to obtain advantage, and drug possession.
The charges resulted from an incident on April 1, 2020 in which Little broke into a woman's unit at Quest Wagga apartments on Gurwood Street in an attempt to evade police.
Little ordered the woman, who believed he had a firearm, to move to the rear of the unit while officers knocked on the door.
Little was arrested by NSW Police tactical officers after a short negotiation and later pleaded guilty to the charges.
He also faced sentencing in relation to charges stemming from a separate incident at Gobbagombalin in March 2020.
At trial in September 2021, the jury deliberated for an hour to find Little guilty of four counts of detain person to obtain advantage and one count of reckless wounding.
He was found not guilty of one count of detain person for advantage.
The charges related to an incident at Gobbagombalin on March 22 in 2020 in which Little was driving on Old Narrandera Road when he encountered five naked male students all aged in their 20s.
Little approached the males and detained them for a period of 35 minutes with what they believed was a firearm.
Dennis Stewart, a barrister representing Little at the sentencing on Thursday, told the court that Little's actions in both incidents were "totally spontaneous and unplanned".
"At Quest ... his [close relative] had just been released from prison and he wanted go and care for her," Mr Stewart said.
Mr Stewart said Little's reaction to the students was "unacceptable" but he acted out of concern for a young female friend who lived nearby.
Little appeared in Wagga District Court via videolink from Parklea Correctional Centre.
Judge Gordon Lerve agreed it was positive that Little was participating in drug addiction treatment.
Crown prosecutor Jessica Dawson told the court that the Crown did not agree that Little was fully remorseful.
"[Little] has shown no real acknowledgement of the hurt caused to victims," she said.
Ms Dawson said the woman staying at Quest had experienced "significant distress" and the male students had been physically assaulted.
"These were innocent bystanders who were placed in violent situations through no fault of their own," she said.
Judge Lerve found special circumstances due to Little's severe childhood deprivation but this would not result in a generous discount.
"This case is not without considerable complexities due to the multitude of offending," Judge Lerve said.
The matter was adjourned until April 22 to set a date to conclude the sentencing.
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