A group of up to seven children and young adults broke into two homes while their occupants – a family with two children, and a group of overseas students – were sleeping in Brighton East and Ormond one night in April, the County Court heard on Thursday.

The photo was one of a series police found on one of the offenders' phone, which also included a photo of one of two stolen cars taken from the houses.

This emerged in a pre-sentence hearing for two of the co-offenders, Peter Paulino, 18, and Bill Tang, 19.

Paulino and Tang pleaded guilty to a range of offences related to the home invasions on Thursday including aggravated burglary, recklessly causing injury and theft.

​Prosecutor Jessica Fallar said that the parents of two young children in the Brighton East house woke to the sound of banging about 3am and saw three males in hooded jackets in their home.

The father yelled at them to get out of his house, and one of the offenders swung a pole, hitting his shoulder. Others threw rocks at the man, hitting him up to six times, the court heard.

The mother called 000, and when police arrived, one of the offenders drove off in the couple's car.

Later that same night, Ms Fallar said, a number of students in the Ormond house woke to find offenders standing in their rooms, with some being told to put their passwords in their mobile phones.

When one student said they did not know it, an offender punched them in the face and made off with their car keys.

Victims were hit with a hammer to the face and legs. One was whipped with a leather belt the offender took from a cupboard.

Both men were out on bail when the home invasions occurred, the court heard.

One of the stolen cars has never been recovered.

Victims told the court in victim impact statements that they lived in fear the offenders would return to hurt them at night.

One student said they failed a test, after their laptop containing their study notes was stolen.

The father said he still had flashbacks of the attack.

He was unable to leave doors in his home unlocked and became startled when they were left open. He struggled to sleep, and only managed about four hours of broken sleep "on a good night".

Defence counsel for Paulino, Julia Munster, said her client was affected by ice at the time, having smoked about 10 points of the drug before the attacks.

Paulino had admitted to the offences, showing some remorse, and had undertaken a drug and alcohol course in custody.

A number of his family members were in court to support him. A psychologist had concluded that it was probable that Paulino had offended due to a  "desire to belong to a peer group".

Paulino was not accused of assaulting the father in the first home, or assaulting or threatening the victims in the second home.

Tang, who was charged over the first home invasion, had been previously sentenced to 18 months' youth detention for aggravated burglary and other crimes, the court heard.

His lawyer, Nick Power, said he had indicated that after he was released he needed to cut off contact with friends involved in similar crimes.

"That's the sacrifice I have to make if I want to live good and decent life," Mr Power reported him saying.

A lead teacher at Parkville College in youth detention told the court in a letter that Tang represented his peers on a youth leadership council and was "highly respected" by teachers and other students.

The plea hearing before Judge Philip Misso continues.