Sharon Stott, David Evans await sentences as judge says tea plans 'unlikely' before baseball bat bashing

Questions of premeditation were raised when Canberra underworld matriarch Sharon Stott and one-time Satudarah chapter president David Evans appeared in the ACT Supreme Court for a sentence hearing on Wednesday.

Justice John Burns earlier this year found the pair guilty of unlawful confinement and making a demand with a threat. Evans was also found guilty of intentionally inflicting actual bodily harm.

The offences, committed in January 2019, involved Stott and Evans turning up at the Kambah home of heroin dealer Catherine Howsan at the same time as a man who became their victim.

Once inside the house, Justice Burns found, Evans picked up a baseball bat that had been leaning against a lounge and stood over the victim, threatening to hit him if he moved.

Stott demanded the victim pay a fictional debt of $20,000, and threatened to cable tie him and take him back to her house.

The fearful victim pushed Stott and tried to run, prompting Evans to land "multiple blows" on him with the bat.

While being hit, the victim managed to grab a knife from the kitchen and chase Stott and Evans out of the house.

On Wednesday, Crown prosecutor Keegan Lee pushed for both offenders to be sentenced to terms of full-time imprisonment, saying their lengthy criminal records provided "no scope for leniency".

He told the court Stott had a history of using violence perpetrated by others "to get what she wants".

"Indeed, this was the second time in the space of eight days that the offenders acted together to get Ms Stott what she wanted," the prosecutor said, referring to an earlier incident in Oaks Estate.

Mr Lee said Justice Burns should be hesitant about Stott's prospects for rehabilitation, given the 58-year-old admitted to the author of a pre-sentence report that she had "become accustomed to [a] life of luxury because she has, in the past, made a significant income through dealing drugs".

He also made reference to the victim in the Kambah incident being fearful of Stott, who was described during her trial as "larger than life" and "a big, bad criminal figure".

Mr Lee said the victim had described hearing stories of Stott holding people hostage and putting them in her car boot.

In relation to Evans, who is already behind bars until at least March 2023 for other crimes, Mr Lee said there was also cause for concern about the likelihood of rehabilitation.

He pointed out that some of Evans' crimes had been committed while in jail, while Evans' refusal to undergo urinalysis earlier this year also cast doubt on his claims of abstinence from illicit drugs.

Barristers for both offenders conceded jail sentences were inevitable but Steven Whybrow, representing Stott, suggested she could serve hers in the community via an intensive correction order.

Mr Whybrow said Stott had proven while on bail in the last six months that she could abide by extremely strict conditions, having lived effectively under house arrest in that time.

He told the court Stott had been making good progress towards rehabilitation amid intense scrutiny from the police and the media, "with some folklore around her".

Evans' barrister, Jason Moffett, conceded only a further sentence of full-time imprisonment would be appropriate for the 34-year-old.

But Mr Moffett said it was important to consider that the offending in Kambah appeared to be opportunistic rather than pre-planned, given the victim had arrived at the home in question unannounced.

This prompted Justice Burns to interject and ponder whether Stott and Evans had intended to extort whoever happened to be at Howsan's home, with the only opportunistic element being the ultimate choice of victim.

"It seems very unlikely to me that [Stott and Evans] went over there for a cup of tea and a piece of tea cake ... and all of a sudden it changes into what is effectively a standover situation," the judge said.

Justice Burns said he planned to sentence Stott and Evans on October 15.