The fictional backpack bomb, the note, and the botched bank robbery

A drunk Jacob Gotte, 32, went to the St George Bank in Kippax in October last year with a backpack, a note, and a plan.

He placed the stolen backpack on the counter and handed the bank teller a note, which demanded cash and claimed the bag contained a bomb.

But the teller foiled the heist when she instead pressed the panic button, forcing Gotte to flee empty handed.

The police bomb squad evacuated the area before declaring there was no threat to public safety.

An examination of the bag revealed it contained a plastic money box.

Gotte handed himself into police the next day, saying that he had done "something stupid" and making a admissions.

He subsequently pleaded guilty to attempted aggravated robbery using force and theft, and appeared in the ACT Supreme Court on Wednesday for sentencing.

The court heard the victim had felt "extreme terror" during the incident, and continued to suffer the effects.

The court heard Gotte had a history of drug and alcohol abuse, and suffered from mental health issues.

However, he had engaged with psychological counselling and undergone cognitive behaviour therapy.

Justice Michael Elkaim, in handing down the sentence, accepted Gotte felt remorse soon after the failed robbery and continued to feel contrition.

The judge also accepted that Gotte had not attempted the robbery to obtain money.

"He did it for uncertain reasons but which must be seen to include a desperation to rise above the stress that he was suffering or perhaps to bring upon himself some form of destruction," Justice Elkaim said.

"This is consistent with him handing himself in the next day, although as I have also already said, this action was consistent with his remorse and recognition of the stupidity of his conduct."

However, Justice Elkaim said a term of imprisonment must be an inevitable consequence for bank robbers.

"The victim and the public are entitled to assume that persons who carry out attempted bank robberies, no matter what the motivation and no matter how amateurish the attempt, should be properly punished," he said.

"Normally, full-time imprisonment would follow without hesitation.

"However, I think the offender's circumstances create an exceptional case justifying the imposition of an intensive correction order."

The judge sentenced Gotte to 34 months jail, backdated to take into account time spent in custody, to be served by way of an intensive corrections order.

Justice Elkaim also banned Gotte from drinking alcohol and warned he would be locked up if he breached the orders.