John Lee Farrell, 36, was sentenced in the County Court on Friday after he pleaded guilty to 11 charges including aggravated burglary, theft of a firearm, and intentionally causing serious injury.

The court heard Farrell visited his co-offender Ari Lacroix at a property in Pyramid Hill on July 24, 2018.

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The men were drinking alcohol that evening when they became aware of allegations that the daughter of Lacroix's partner was being bullied at school.

Farrell and Lacroix decided they needed to confront the father of the alleged bully.

The pair went to the victim's home and threw rocks at the property while yelling abuse. The family was home at the time, but chose to relocate for the night due to their concerns.

Later that evening, Farrell and Lacroix returned to the victim's property and entered through a security door to a patio area.

Once inside the property, the men used a small angle grinder to cut the padlock to the gun safe.

The pair stole two rifles and two shotguns, before taking a Yamaha Peewee 50 and a Yamaha Peewee 80 from the property.

One of the men also defecated on the concrete under the patio before leaving the house.

The victim reported the burglary to police later that morning after he returned home to see the open security door and the breached firearms safe.

Police attended the property and found bike drag marks from the victim's home to the house where Farrell and Lacroix were staying. The two stolen motorbikes were located in an open rear shed.

The pair were at the property at the time and showed police where they had concealed the firearms under a blanket in the laundry.

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Farrell also pleaded guilty to assaulting a different victim on two separate occasions in July and August 2018.

On one of those occasions, Farrell broke into the victim's Melbourne home and repeatedly punched the man.

The victim sustained injuries including bleeding to the brain and a possible spinal injury.

Judge Paul Lacava described the offending in Pyramid Hill as "opportunistic, but amateurish and unsophisticated".

Judge Lacava said while the charge of theft of a firearm was serious, it appeared that Farrell and Lacroix had "stumbled upon" the weapons and did not intend to use or sell the guns.

In relation to the theft of the motorbikes, the judge also noted that the offenders "left an easy trail for police to follow".

Judge Lacava said in sentencing, he took into account Farrell's "troubled and deprived upbringing" and his longstanding issues with drug and alcohol addiction.

The judge said Farrell's rehabilitation prospects were "guarded" as his offending was linked to his addictions.

Judge Lacava said the guilty pleas were entered at a reasonably early time, and held greater value due to the court delays during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Farrell was sentenced to seven years and six months in prison, with 987 days reckoned as already served. He will be eligible for parole after five years.

If Farrell did not plead guilty, he would have been jailed for 10 years, with a non-parole period of seven years and six months.

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