A crown prosecutor has described the violent robbery and arson of Dunwich Post Office two years ago as "cunning and cowardly".
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Tiege Lanczy Kalen Burns, 26, Hunter Gabriel Murray-Costelloe, 19, Tama Moerara Edwards, 25, Bruce Issiah Walker, 20 and Jacob Martin, 19, faced Brisbane District Court on Thursday for sentencing over their role in the attack.
Postmaster Hetty Conlon was bashed and left for dead as the North Stradbroke Island post office and adjoining residence were torched after a robbery in the early hours of July 21, 2012.
Burns, Murray-Costelloe, Edwards and Walker have pleaded guilty to having a direct role in the planned robbery, while Martin has pleaded guilty to destroying evidence the morning after the attack.
The court heard Burns, Murray-Costelloe, Edwards and Walker planned the robbery with co-offender Michael Coghill, who has already been convicted, while under the influence of alcohol, cannabis and the drug ice.
Walker and a juvenile, who cannot be named, lit fires at the Dunwich Secondary Department School to lure Mrs Conlon's husband, an auxilliary firefighter, from the house attached to the post office.
Burns, Murray-Costelloe, Edwards and Coghill waited for Mr Conlon to leave before breaking into his house and threatening Mrs Conlon.
The men ordered her to open the post office safe and stole $23,000 in cash and valuables.
Murray-Costelloe then kicked Mrs Conlon in the head while Burns used petrol to set the house alight.
Mrs Conlon escaped the fire, but suffered numerous facial injuries from the assault.
The men escaped along a laneway to Dunwich State School, but dropped cash, bags of coins and clothing with DNA, leading the prosecutor to describe their plan as notable for its "ineptitude" as for its "evil".
The court said that, later that morning, Martin burnt some of the stolen items in bushland after finding them in the back seat of his car.
The prosecution argued the "gratuitous" arson of the post office and assault of Mrs Conlon meant Murray-Costelloe and Burns deserved longer sentences than their co-accused.
Victim impact statements read to the court revealed Mrs Conlon had found it hard to go out in public after the attack, and noted that she and her husband planned to sell the post office and leave the island.
Defence barristers for all five men blamed alcohol and drug addiction for their role in the attack, though all offered the issue as an "explanation", rather than an excuse.
Judge Glenn Martin adjourned the hearing to Monday, when he is expected to make sentencing decisions.
All defendants except Martin were remanded in custody until the case is resumed.
