Darren Hubert Scott, 20, and another offender, who cannot be named because he was 17 at the time, robbed six students in a series of attacks in October last year.

Scott, then 19, and the other man took items such as a laptop, mobile phones and wallets, and used a stolen bank card to buy cigarettes, the court heard.

The offences were committed on the campuses of the Australian National University and the University of Canberra.

Thw two were arrested in November last year and eventually charged with a total of six counts of aggravated robbery and four of obtaining property by deception.

They have been in custody ever since.

The pair appeared in the ACT Supreme Court on Tuesday to be sentenced for their crimes. Both had earlier pleaded guilty.

The court first heard from one of the victims, who had asked the prosecutor to read out a victim impact statement to the court.

"It was very quick, all of a sudden they attacked me," the victim said.

He described an injury to his eye that took a week to heal, during which time he was unable to work.

The victim was an international student, and didn't want to go to hospital because he knew insurance wouldn't cover all the costs.

But he said police told him to go because he was bleeding from the nose. He said although doctors tried to get him to go back to hospital later to check the injuries he didn't because of the cost.

The victim said his glasses were broken, and he had to pay to get them replaced. The victim was also worried about failing courses, which were expensive because he was an international student.

Only some of the items stolen had been recovered, he said.

He said he didn't go out at night anymore. "I now stay overnight when I go to the uni and stay until the morning."

The court heard it was the younger teenager who was the main perpetrator of the violence.

Prosecutors pressed for the two to remain in custody past Tuesday.

In sentencing the men, Justice Michael Elkaim described their crimes as cowardly and without any form of justification.

He said the community must be entitled to feel safe as they go about their daily business.

But he said it was important to elevate the young men's rehabilitation, and said they should not be allowed to join the criminal fraternity.

The judge observed the road to drug addiction and professional criminality from there is a short one.

But he said while the two would receive sentences of imprisonment there was also room for a degree of leniency.

He pointed to the pair's unblemished criminal records, their remorse, their participation in restorative justice and the support of their respective families.

"They have more than tasted custody and I hope the taste has been bitter for them," the judge said.

The court also heard both had references that spoke of their good character.

Justice Elkaim sentenced each man to two-and-a-half years' imprisonment. But he suspended the sentences from Tuesday, on both men entering a two year good behaviour order.

The judge also made a reparation order.

A young woman arrested in relation to the same crimes was sentenced earlier this year, the court heard.