Three days after he was sentenced to a series of good behaviour orders, a drug-addicted teenager was outside a supermarket brandishing a knife at a terrified shopper who has has barely slept since.
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A judge says Torrens man James Daniel Michael Holt, 19, now faces an almost certain sentence of full-time imprisonment following the incident outside Woolworths in Wanniassa.
A statement of agreed facts tendered to the ACT Supreme Court reveals that about 8.55pm on June 21, the victim was returning to her car with groceries when Holt and a 15-year-old girl approached in grey hoodies.
The girl, who was carrying a pole, demanded that the woman hand over her money.
The woman's refusal prompted the girl, who cannot be named for legal reasons, to repeat the demand and grab the victim's arm.
As the victim hit back and yelled "don't touch me", Holt brandished a knife at her before making "slashing movements" near the back of the victim's car.
The victim then ran at the hooded pair, telling them to "get away", and the offenders took off in a blue Suzuki Swift.
Police spotted the car in Civic about half an hour later and arrested Holt, who subsequently pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery.
The 15-year-old girl was also arrested, and received a 12-month good behaviour order without conviction.
In court on Tuesday, the victim described feeling terrified and as if her life was in danger during the "heinous" and "horrendous" attack.
She spoke of having feared that her husband and two young children may never see her again.
She said she had felt "violated in every sense of the word" by the incident, and unable to turn and run because she was worried Holt would stab her in the back.
"Since the night I was terrorised, I have not been able to sleep and I wake up exhausted," she said.
The woman said she shook for days afterwards, and her mind now constantly took her back to the scene.
While she was once "a strong, independent businesswoman", she had been left regularly feeling "totally broken".
A Legal Aid lawyer representing Holt told the court his client had significant drug abuse issues, having started using cannabis when he was 13.
The lawyer said it was important for Justice John Burns to consider the teenager's youth and prospects for rehabilitation.
He also conceded that the offending was "nasty", but described it as unsophisticated and opportunistic.
Justice Burns took issue with this, pointing out that the fact Holt was armed indicated at least some level of pre-planning.
He was also concerned that Holt, having been given the opportunity to rehabilitate himself on good behaviour orders, had gone and committed "a very serious offence" just three days later.
"He doesn't seem to have done all that much in custody about rehabilitation," Justice Burns said of Holt's 114 days behind bars since the incident.
"He might prove me wrong about his prospects for rehabilitation, but so far he doesn't have the runs on the board."
Crown prosecutor Marcus Dyason agreed with the judge's comments, and urged Justice Burns to exercise caution if considering a community-based jail sentence.
Justice Burns replied: "I don't think there's any real possibility of a sentence other than one of full-time imprisonment."
Mr Dyason went on to accept that Holt's early guilty plea indicated some remorse.
However, he said that should be "tempered against" comments suggesting that Holt's regret was focused squarely on his own circumstances rather than any insight into the impact of his offending on the victim.
Mr Dyason said a psychiatrist had reported Holt as saying: "I suppose, now, I'm regretting [the incident]. Every time I think about it, I'm angry. I'm sick of being in jail."
Justice Burns said he would sentence Holt next Monday.
