HE claims he was trying to be a "Good Samaritan" and wanted to "save" a woman from being sexually harassed when he planned a home invasion that ended with him stabbing one man in the back seven times before he turned the knife on the man's 78-year-old father.
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And Kyle Burkett, now 23, who organised the home invasion, armed himself with a knife and was driven 150 kilometres from Gosford to Hawks Nest on June 29 last year before bursting into a home with his father and another man and attacking the occupants, will be out of jail as early as next year after he was sentenced in Newcastle District Court on Wednesday.
The messages show Kyle Burkett trying to organise a lift from Gosford to Hawks Nest to confront the victim and include Kyle Burkett asking Bowater numerous questions about whether the victim had access to any weapons or a phone, had a dog and how much drugs and cash were likely in his possession.
At 10.30pm there was a knock on the door and the three men were let inside the house. Kyle Burkett confronted the victim upstairs, stabbed him seven times in the back and then stabbed the man's elderly father when he came to his son's aid. He later texted Bowater to ask: "Is he still alive".
"There is an element of him trying to be a Good Samaritan," Kyle Burkett's barrister, Matthew Breeze, said on Wednesday. "His intentions had a sense of nobility about them, but also involved a not insignificant degree of violence. He took a knife with him and cast some retribution upon those who he felt responsible for what had happened to Ms Bowater."
Kyle Burkett was jailed for a maximum of three-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of two years, while his 48-year-old father Mark Edward Burkett - who drove Kyle to the home, went inside and assaulted one of the victims - and Bowater, who helped plan the home invasion and let the men inside the house, were also jailed on Wednesday. Mark Burkett was jailed for a maximum of two-and-a-half years, with a non-parole period of 16 months. He will be eligible for parole in May next year.
Bowater was jailed for two years and three months, with a non-parole period of 15 months. She will be eligible for release next month.
The third intruder, John Robert Thomas, had his matter adjourned to see if he is suitable for an intensive corrections order and community service.
