An addiction to the drug ice turned a Canberra man into a "careless criminal" and drove him to commit a violent knifepoint carjacking, a court has been told.
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Kaine Lock, 20, wept in the ACT Supreme Court as he heard the car's driver feared for his life when two men wielding a knife and replica pistol approached his vehicle in the "unexpected attack" in December last year.
"Knives were swiping around and I thought I was going to get stabbed," the man wrote in a victim impact statement read at a sentence hearing on Wednesday.
He was afraid the pair would later "pay me a visit at home" because they had his wallet and keys, and wrote he'd grown paranoid, suspicious and anxious since the incident.
Lock has been in custody since April when police identified him as one of two men who, armed with a knife and replica pistol, attempted to hijack a woman's car as they threatened to stab and shoot her in Melba.
The pair then tried to enter a 7-Eleven store before they fled to a nearby street where they forced the man from his Toyota Camry after threatening to stab him, stole the car and later used his credit card.
Lock pleaded guilty to numerous charges linked to his crimes, including aggravated robbery, driving a car without consent and fraud.
He also faced sentencing for offences of aggravated robbery in company and dishonestly riding in a car without consent for another violent incident at a bottle shop in April this year.
Lock told Justice John Burns he was deeply remorseful for his "dangerous, reckless and violent" actions and had been high on the drug ice.
"It changed me, I wasn't myself. It turned me into a careless criminal and I hate that about myself. I want you to know I'm not a bad person; the drugs got the better of me.
"It disgusts me to know how much of a low-life I was and the terrible things I was doing, because that's not who I am."
He pleaded for leniency so he could go to drug rehabilitation, get an education, and secure a job.
"Please, your Honour, give me a second chance and you won't regret it. I promise."
Lock apologised to his victims and said the impact his crimes had on the man "makes me feel terrible".
Defence lawyer Katrina Musgrove said Lock's crimes had been spontaneous, unplanned and unsophisticated.
She noted his difficult childhood and commitment to turn his life around as she argued against a "crushing" sentence that would destroy his hope for his future.
But prosecutor Sara Gul said the "terrifying offences" were serious and there was a strong need for general deterrence.
Lock will be sentenced next week.
