A Hamilton Parish man who admitted breaking into a house with a crowbar on New Year’s Eve has been jailed for six years.

Temasgan Furbert, 39, pleaded guilty to a charge of aggravated burglary in connection with an incident on January 1, 2026, in which he and two others armed with machetes attempted to gain entry to a home on Radnor Drive in Hamilton Parish.

The court heard that he broke through a window in a door with the crowbar and reached through to unlock it but he and his cohorts fled after the resident stabbed Furbert in the forearm with a kitchen knife.

Furbert apologised for his actions and said that he had committed the offence in an attempt to secure drugs.

Puisne Judge Juan Wolffe noted Furbert’s early guilty plea and expressions of remorse, but said he believed there was more to the incident than Furbert let on.

Mr Justice Wolffe said Furbert and his cohorts had “brutally victimised” the resident and that it was fortunate that the resident had the presence of mind to defend himself.

He added: “Had he not done so, the incident could have been fatal for the victim and the defendant may be facing a far more serious sentence.”

Kael London, for the Crown, told the court that the complainant in the case was woken at 12.19am on January 1 to the sound of banging on his bedroom window.

He then heard banging at his door. When he looked he saw three people outside his home wearing helmets. One of the individuals was striking the door with a crowbar and the other two were holding machetes.

The complainant saw the man with a crowbar smash the window on his door, so he grabbed a kitchen knife and stabbed the intruder in the forearm as he reached his right arm through the window to try to unlatch the door.

The resident said the men then fled with the injured intruder bleeding heavily from his arm.

The complainant said he called police and while on the phone he saw a figure approach his door with a bucket and pour water in the area around the doorway as if to wash off the blood.

The individual then ran from the door, got on the back of a waiting bike and rode away.

The incident was captured on security cameras at the complainant’s home, while CCTV footage from North Shore Road showed the suspects travelling to and from the scene of the crime.

Police also collected multiple samples of blood from the scene, which were sent overseas for DNA testing.

When Furbert was arrested for the offence, he initially denied any involvement and claimed that he had suffered injuries to his arm by falling on his lawn.

However, he subsequently pleaded guilty to the offence in the Supreme Court.

Mr London told the court that Furbert had previous convictions for burglary and theft, and recommended a six-year prison sentence followed by two to three years of probation to help him battle his addiction.

Marc Daniels, for Furbert, said the defendant was well aware of his addiction and was committed to addressing his issues.

Mr Daniels added: “He has had the opportunity to use while in prison. He has refrained from that as he is trying to maintain sobriety.”

Furbert apologised to the court and the victim for his actions.

He told the court that he began to experiment with cannabis when he was 11 before moving on to alcohol, cocaine and heroin, which he had been using for the past 16 years.

Asked why he committed the offence, Furbert responded: “Drugs. Drugs had me.”

However, Mr Justice Wolffe replied: “I think there is more to the story about what happened that night.

“I don’t think it was just an attempt at a robbery. I think a lot more was going down or going to go down.”

However, he accepted Furbert’s expressions of remorse and warned him that he needed to turn his life around and address his heroin addiction.

Mr Justice Wolffe added: “You need to grapple with yourself, why you found yourself an addict for the last 20 years, if not more, and what you are going to do when you are released.

“Do you want to find yourself in another prison? Do you want to find yourself coming out of prison and hanging out with the same idiots that got you in trouble in the first place?”

He sentenced Furbert to eight years behind bars, with time already served taken into consideration, but suspended two years of that sentence.

Mr Justice Wolffe also sentenced Furbert to three years of probation upon release, with conditions including that he refrain from the use of drugs and alcohol.

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