‘Shocking’: Home invasion horror revealed

The young man who instigated a gruesome home invasion in which a pregnant mum was threatened with a knife to her throat has expressed remorse for his actions, but the judge overseeing his sentencing repeatedly expressed shock at the “very extreme” nature of the behaviour.

Benjamin Thomas Nesbitt, 26, appeared at Adelaide District Court before Judge Paul Muscat on Thursday for sentencing submissions after pleading guilty to the chaotic violence that escalated from a simple noise complaint at an apartment complex in the city’s outer north.

When Nesbitt received a complaint from a neighbour about loud music late at night, Mr Nesbitt rounded up a group of men who forced entry into the neighbour’s apartment, attacking a man and a pregnant mum while an infant lay sleeping in another room.

“This is terrible offending,” Judge Muscat said.

“What the group of them did when they kicked in the door of the next-door apartment … and assaulted both occupants, it’s serious in the extreme.”

Judge Muscat told the court that Nesbitt held a knife to the woman’s throat and threatened to kill her and wiped the flat part of the blade against the woman’s cheek.

Nesbitt has been in custody since October 2023 and his barrister Peter Hill asked Judge Muscat to consider a home detention sentence given he had already spent close to a year in jail.

But Judge Muscat said home detention would be “most unlikely” given the “quite shocking” nature of the offence.

Mr Hill said his client was “genuinely remorseful” for his actions.

“Clearly “this was a completely out-of-control night,” Mr Hill said.

“He is very, very sorry for what he did that night … but he is doing everything in his power to make sure something like this never happens again Your Honour.”

Mr Hill told the court that Nesbitt had a four-year-old son and was the primary carer for the child.

“His son desperately misses his father, and Mr Nesbitt desperately misses his son,” he said.

He also said Nesbitt had penned an apology letter to the victims and had actively engaged in counselling services in prison.

Upon his eventual release from prison, Mr Hill said Nesbitt was “eager to provide stable and secure care for his son”.

Mr Hill asked Judge Muscat to permit his client to serve out any sentence on home detention. If that was not a possibility, Mr Hill asked Judge Muscat to grant Nesbitt a lenient non-parole period.

Judge Muscat indicated he would likely grant a lower non-parole period than he ordinarily would for the offending given Nesbitt’s minimal criminal history, his apparent remorse and efforts to change.

“I do accept you are very remorseful for what you did,” Judge Muscat said in addressing Nesbitt, who appeared in court via videolink from prison.

Judge Muscat said Nesbitt held out good prospects for rehabilitation.

“I will reflect all of that in the non-parole period,” he said.

Nesbitt appeared in court alongside Mark John Mumford, who has also pleaded guilty to participating in the home invasion. Mumford’s hearing was adjourned as his defence team and prosecution negotiate over the factual basis of his offending.

Nesbitt will be sentenced for his crimes on November 25.