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UPDATE: The Bendigo Magistrates' Court heard Timothy Ridge manufactured and detonated three improvised explosive devices in Bendigo's CBD to "impress his friends and get a laugh".
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent described his actions on December 20 last year as "a prank that got completely out of control".
Ridge was fined $5000 with no conviction for five charges relating to detonating three explosive devices in Bendigo's CBD.
The prosecution attempted to have the case heard at the County Court, but Ms Tregent determined the sentence would likely be similar and would take up more of the court's time.
Defence counsel Megan Aumair said a conviction would not be appropriate, as Ridge was "highly unlikely" to re-offend and the conviction would impact his future employment.
She said he had ambitions to travel and work in Europe and he was not the type of young person "who needed to be made an example of".
Ms Aumair said Ridge was not a terrorist.
"He's not a terrorist, he doesn't hold radical views," she said.
"He was confident there would be no injury to people, he was surprised by the amount of damage it caused. He thought it would probably feel like an insect biting someone at most.
"He was so shocked by the damage that he abandoned the last device at the bar."
The defence tendered positive testimonies from a number of people pointing to Ridge's "good character", including sponsoring a refugee in Uganda and training an Afghan refugee at his place of work.
Ms Tregent said the embarrassment Ridge had experienced, and was likely to continue to experience, because of his actions was adequate rehabilitation.
"A lot of people going around celebrating Christmas time, it certainly would have created fear and anxiety," she said.
EARLIER: The 24-year-old man who detonated three explosive devices in Bendigo's CBD has been fined $5000 with no conviction.
Timothy Mitchell Ridge, of Maiden Gully, pleaded guilty to four charges of reckless conduct endangering serious injury and one charge of criminal damage in the Bendigo Magistrates' Court on Wednesday.
Magistrate Jennifer Tregent told Ridge he "mucked up, you mucked up badly" before handing down the sentence.
She said he would carry the charges with him for life and always look back on when he was "young and stupid".
The court heard Ridge attended a pub crawl on December 20 dressed as Santa Claus, wearing a short-sleeve red suit, red shorts and black boots.
He carried with him four improvised explosive devices in plastic bags, made from items sourced from Bunnings in Kangaroo Flat.
Throughout the pub crawl, the first device was placed in front of the Golden Vine Hotel, the second in a letterbox on King Street and the third between two bins next to the Bendigo Library.
The fourth device was left undetonated in a pot plant at Bar 238 after Ridge realised the potential for serious injury should he set off another device, defence counsel Megan Aumair said.
The court heard shrapnel from the device that exploded next to the library came within one metre of a bystander.
Plastic shrapnel from the device in front of the Golden Vine Hotel landed in the crowd of onlookers, who cheered Ridge on as he placed the device in the centre of the median strip at the corner of Myrtle and Wills streets.
More to come.