Rodney Smart’s victim impact statement was read in the Mount Isa District Court on Wednesday, which said “for the level of brutality inflicted they got so little from me”. 

He was also angry at his attackers for the ordeal they had put his mother through – who had to clean the blood in his caravan while he was unconscious in Townsville Hospital. 

James Robert Pott, 21, received five years imprisonment after pleading guilty to grievous bodily harm, and is eligible for parole on October 21. 

The Crown said Pott was part of a premeditated plan to steal drugs and money from Mr Smart in the early hours of April 9, 2014. 

He watched Roy Reginald Barclay attack Mr Smart with the tree branch, and although refused to strike the victim had done nothing to stop it. 

Pott helped steal items like a DVD player, a television set, keys, a mobile phone and charge, and about $35.

He wrote a letter of apology to Mr Smart which was dated the day before his sentence.  

“It wasn’t supposed to go down like this,” Pott’s letter said. 

“Losing an eye is the worst thing that could happen, especially to someone who has got a heart like you.” 

Barrister Claire McKinnon said Pott was being sentenced due to his own admissions and co-operated with police. 

Pott was part of a plan to steal from the caravan, but Barclay went “over and above” it when he attacked the victim with a tree branch. Ms McKinnon alleged the victim was a target because he had illegal drugs and so was not a “completely innocent member of the community”. 

Judge Ian Dearden said it was irrelevant if the victim had drugs, and did not deserve being assaulted.