Kane Corben, 21, had a serious addiction to the drug ice and was battling mental health issues when he made the decision to take the guns on the night of September 18.

He walked up the long, muddy driveway of a McGuiness Lane rural property in Wooragee with a co-offender and they slipped in an unlocked side door.

After finding the keys to the gun safe, they stole firearms worth a total of $3000.

Corben appeared in Wodonga Magistrates’ Court on Monday where he was sentenced to a total of 60 days in jail  and had his driver’s licence suspended for six months for charges including aggravated burglary and petrol theft.

Having already served 45 days in custody since his arrest, he will be freed in two weeks.

Forensic police photographed the shoe prints in the mud at the scene of the crime and at the time of his arrest, Corben was wearing the Nike runners with a distinctive honeycomb sole pattern which proved to be a perfect match.

He showed police where he had hidden two of the guns next to a fallen tree on Spring Gully Road, about 10 kilometres from the Wodonga CBD.

The third weapon, which had been shortened into a handgun, was hidden inside the time of the door in Corben’s car.

He told police he needed the guns for protection.

Corben also pleaded guilty to stealing a laptop, tablet and iPhone from his ex-girlfriend’s Yarrawonga home as occupants slept; assaulting the woman in Melbourne by twisting her arm and biting her on the face; and stealing $46.90 in petrol from Wodonga APCO.

Barrister Sally Wilson said her client had “a raging drug habit” at the time, but had detoxed and stabalised in custody.

Magistrate John O’Callaghan warned Corben, who had experience his first stint in custody, not to continue down the path of crime.

“The community is getting concerned about burglaries, particularly when there’s guns involved,” he said.