Robert Sleep, 29, appeared via video link at the Horsham Magistrates' Court on Tuesday, January 18, and pleaded guilty to trespassing following an incident on March 28, 2020.

The court was told Sleep, and a co-accused, were inspired to unlawfully enter a Horsham property after a house party at the property resulted in a motor-powered pushbike accident, which injured a mutual friend.

Sleep and the co-accused were alerted of the accident via a Facebook group chat, which accused an attendee of the party of failing to help their friend after they had been injured in the crash.

At about 11pm, Sleep and the co-accused walked to the property to look for the man they believed had abandoned their friend.

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Inside the house was the occupant and a second witness.

Sleep and the co-accused entered the home through the front door and the second witness confronted them.

The court was told Sleep walked through the house to the rear of the property as the co-accused asked the second witness the whereabouts of the victim.

After looking through the house, the two left the property.

The second witness called the police, who arrived on the scene at 11.10pm.

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Later that night, police observed Sleep walking on a vacant property block towards Stawell Road and took him to Horsham Police Station.

The court was told Sleep gave an inaccurate version of events during an interview conducted at the police station.

Magistrate Michael McNamara said Sleep was lucky the situation did not escalate further.

"It is clearly fortunate that you didn't find anyone when you arrived. If you found the person you were looking for and he had got beaten up you would end up in jail, and if he had died you would be in jail for a long time," Mr McNamara said.

Sleep was convicted and fined $300.

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