Shaun Lionel West, 42, had been given an opportunity by the court on bail, but was arrested again after committing the aggravated burglary in Brown Hill earlier this month.

Police prosecutor Senior Constable Jack Fletcher said the resident of the Brown Hill house woke to the sound of his dog barking at 3am on August 7, 2021.

The man had left the sliding door to his house ajar so his dog could come in and out during the night.

Five minutes later the victim heard his car being unlocked and saw the lights on and the boot open.

He got out of bed and found two sets of keys to the car had been stolen from the bookshelf in the living room and a laptop and two laptop bags valued $4000 were stolen from the study.

Crime scene officers examined the house and found West's fingerprints inside.

Police officers looked for West at his bail address the next day and found he had not been staying there, in breach of his bail conditions.

Police went to another address and found West hiding under a bed.

He showed police the car keys and laptop he had stolen and officers found an imitation firearm hanging from the curtain rail.

Defence lawyer Niamh Harrington said during a plea hearing at the Ballarat Magistrates' Court on Friday West had relapsed into ice use and the aggravated burglary was opportunistic.

"There is no one who is more disappointed in that than Mr West himself," she said.

"He accepts responsibility for what happened.

"He consumed ice, walked past a house and saw the door open, has little recollection and can't explain why he did it other than the opportunity presenting itself to him while he was substance affected."

Ms Harrington submitted a combination of a term of imprisonment and a community corrections order was an appropriate sentence.

"He is motivated to do a corrections order," she said.

"He doesn't want to be going in and out of custody for the rest of his life."

Magistrate Ron Saines said West could not have done much worse while on bail.

"I very much reject your submission this was opportunistic offending," he said.

"He made the decision to go back to use methamphetamine again while he was on bail, he made the decision to ignore his bail obligations and happened to be wandering around at 3am.

"I don't accept that is opportunistic.

"You have got yourself into a pretty bad situation here."

Mr Saines said he needed time to consider sentencing.

West will return to court in September. He has served 101 days in custody.

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