A drug-trafficking burglar gave police consent to search his vehicle after two men tried to carjack him, leading officers to find heroin and methamphetamine.
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Alexander Mark Smith was sentenced in late September to four years in jail after pleading guilty to numerous charges, including multiple counts of drug trafficking and burglary.
Acting Justice Richard Refshauge backdated the sentence by nearly five months to account for time served on remand, and suspended the rest of it in favour of a drug and alcohol treatment order.
The judge's sentencing remarks were published on Wednesday.
Agreed facts state two masked men wielding a gun and a hammer approached Smith in an underground carpark in Moncrieff in May 2021.
Smith and a companion were able to escape by quickly reversing, despite being "rammed" by the vehicle the masked men were driving.
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Smith then drove to Gungahlin Police Station, participated in a recorded interview about the incident and gave police consent to search his car.
Officers located a lock box in his Kia that contained nearly 23 grams of methamphetamine, about 0.5 grams of heroin and drug paraphernalia.
Facts also outline incidents of theft and burglary perpetrated by Smith in Braddon in September 2021.
Late in the evening of September 13, 2021, Smith used a skip bin to carry a number of stolen items from businesses, one of which he "completely ransacked".
The items, which included iPads, televisions, mobile phones, vehicle keys, building keys and a camera, were valued at a little more than $9000.
Four days later, he again entered a locked premises in Braddon and stole tools.
Leaving and walking along Lonsdale Street about 3am, Smith was approached by police, who asked him about being on the street while a COVID-19 public health direction for staying home was in place.
The officers also cautioned Smith that burglaries had been committed on Lonsdale Street.
In response, he "immediately bent over and ran from the police".
He was arrested 50 metres down the road in possession of items stolen on the nights of both burglaries.
Smith was said to have been affected by heroin at the time of his offending, a drug which he, along with others such as methamphetamine and cannabis, had a dependence on at different stages in his life.
Acting Justice Refshauge told Smith, who was 29 at the time, he had been given a real opportunity through the treatment order.
"Take it with both hands," he said.
"I wish you good luck, I seriously do.
"I always hope that people I sentence to a treatment order will graduate, in due course, and we will give you a big cake and a big clap."
![Alexander Smith was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court in late 2022. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong Alexander Smith was sentenced in the ACT Supreme Court in late 2022. Picture by Sitthixay Ditthavong](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/171518670/acdd700b-e7b3-4219-8692-931880a5e0f6.jpg/r0_0_5600_3733_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
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