Joshua Robert Stephen, 37, was last year jailed by the ACT Supreme Court for eight years and two months, with a non-parole period of five years and four months.

The former junior rugby league star had pleaded guilty to six charges, the most serious of which was that he had recklessly inflicted grievous bodily harm on his victim in what Justice David Mossop called an "appalling" incident.

After breaking into the Canberra man's house in June 2019, Stephen entered the victim's bedroom and swung a machete at him.

He ultimately inflicted 43 injuries on the victim, described by the judge as an innocent man who had been "minding his own business", hitting him in the head, face, arms and hands.

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Justice Mossop, who looked at what he labelled "very confronting" photographs, said the victim was left "extensively injured and bleeding profusely". One of the man's ears was partially severed.

While Stephens was remanded in custody at the Alexander Maconochie Centre following the incident, he was recorded on the phone making admissions and saying he was lucky he was not "in on worser charges".

He attributed his actions to "how f---ing drug-f---ed" he was at the time of the incident, when he was under the influence of methamphetamine.

With his sentence backdated to the time of his arrest in July 2019, Stephen was due to become eligible for parole in November 2024.

He recently challenged the severity his sentence, however, with a hearing conducted in the ACT Court of Appeal in November.

His lawyer, Jonathan Cooper, argued the sentence was excessive because Justice Mossop had imposed it after taking into a non-existent previous conviction for a grievous bodily harm offence.

Crown prosecutor Rebecca Christensen SC conceded this error meant Stephen should be resentenced by the Court of Appeal, though she submitted Justice Chrissa Loukas-Karlsson, Justice Michael Elkaim and Justice Katrina Banks-Smith should impose the same jail term as Justice Mossop.

On Friday afternoon, the Court of Appeal resentenced Stephen to a lesser term of seven years and 11 months in jail, with a non-parole period of four years and nine months.

Stephen, who had spent a number of months couch-surfing prior to being incarcerated, will now be eligible for release from custody in April 2024.

The 37-year-old, who appeared via audio-visual link from Canberra's jail, told Justice Loukas-Karlsson he understood but did not show any emotion at the decision.

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