Judge Andrew Haesler found Matthew McGarrigle was still yet to fully comprehend how his actions of the night of February 3, 2017 had affected his victims.

Court documents said McGarrigle was driving a stolen Toyota Prado when he and two passengers – a male and a female – headed to a unit block in Penrose about 11pm.

Witnesses told police they saw the car drive slowly down the road before turning around in the cul-de-sac and stopping outside an apartment block.

“A person was seen to lean out of the front passenger window...three loud bangs were heard, then the car drove off at speed,” court documents said.

The shooter had fired three shots into a parked vehicle, two of which hit the tailgate and the other piercing the rear window.

The owner of the car immediately called police before also phoning a relative who was babysitting children at a house in Koonawarra and advising him of the shooting and that a blue Prado had been involved.

The relative told the man a vehicle with the same description had just pulled up outside the Koonawarra house.

The car then drove off down the street however returned a few minutes later and pulled up near the letter box before two shots rang out.

The occupants of the house, which included several young children, were not harmed.

Forensic police attended both scenes and recovered cartridge cases as well as spent bullets. Meantime, police discovered the Prado burnt out on Calderwood Road a short time later.

McGarrigle was arrested on February 7 and charged with two counts of discharging a firearm in public, and one count each of driving a stolen vehicle, destroying property by fire and possessing an unauthorised gun.

He pleaded guilty to the charge in December last year.

In court on Friday, Judge Haesler noted McGarrigle had a troubled past, which included drug use, but said he still had the support of his family and partner.

But he said the seriousness of McGarrigle’s crimes couldn’t be overlooked.

“Directing a firearm at a vehicle parked outside a residential premises poses a considerable risk,” he said.

“I’m still unable to comprehend how he, no matter what his age or immaturity, could think that what he was doing could have anything other than disastrous consequences.”

Judge Haesler set a non-parole period of three years, meaning with time served McGarrigle will be eligible for release on parole in February 2020.