After beating, punching and clubbing his hog-tied victim, Mark Simon got some black duct tape and a can of lighter fluid.

I'm going to burn you alive and burn your house down, he told the man.

In the Hamilton District Court on Tuesday, Simon, 41, was sentenced for his part in the home invasion that he and two other men undertook in a rural house in the Waikato on April 22, 2021.

He had earlier admitted charges of aggravated burglary and kidnapping.

'When one reads the harrowing summary of facts that you pleaded guilty to, one can only think that luck or something bigger was on [the victim's] side,” says Judge Noel Cocurullo as he sentenced Simon to seven years in jail.

It was a summary that, in its first few paragraphs, sets the scene for the crime: The victim lived alone on his rural property, in a house down the end of a long, gated driveway that was not visible from the road or any neighbouring houses.

The invasion had its genesis the previous afternoon, when Simon texted one of his associates saying he was 'just tryna make some coin”.

At 6am the following day another associate got in touch. 'Got us a hit,” he wrote, adding that they were 'taking it all”.

At 9.30am Simon and his co-offenders – who to this day have not been identified – travelled to the victim's home in a white Holden Rodeo ute. Simon had armed himself with a modified sawn-off shotgun.

They forced open the locked iron gate at the bottom of the driveway and drove up to the victim's house.

On arrival, the victim came out to see who his dogs were barking at. Simon pointed the gun at him from within the car. 'Get down motherf...er,” he yelled.

The victim did so. Simon walked up to him. Along with the shotgun he was carrying two large, black cable ties.

The victim, in fear of his life, began to struggle as Simon attempted to tie him up. Simon responded by clubbing him with the butt of the gun, and one of the other invaders began beating him with a metal pipe.

As the overpowered man was secured, Simon thrust the barrel of the gun into his mouth. 'I am going to kill you, mother....er,” he says.

One of the men used a crow bar to force his way into a gun safe in a nearby shed as the victim was dragged inside the house by his arms.

Inside, they found a roll of clear box tape and wrapped it around the victim's head, covering his nose and mouth.

Struggling to breathe, he was repeatedly punched and beaten and told he was going to be killed. A ski rope was used to hog-tie his legs and hands together. Then his assailants began dropping exercise equipment on him.

The invaders managed to gain access to the gun safe and the small arsenal contained within: a Ruger 10/22 semi-automatic rifle; an Optima 20-gauge single barrel shotgun; a Mossberg Maverick 12-gauge pump action shotgun; a Wyatt Earp 12-gauge hammer action shotgun; a Rossi 44-magnum lever action rifle; ammunition; and between $5000 and $6000 in cash.

Mark Simon was sentenced to jail for the home invasion. His co-offenders have still not been identified. Photo: Christel Yardley/Stuff.

The group also took cannabis plants, a large black bag, a socket set, a tackle box containing the victim's fishing licence, a swing blade knife, a small yellow jimmy bar, and the victim's cellphone.

Before leaving, Simon threatened the victim with the lighter fluid and used the duct tape to further bind his hands and feet together.

However, he mistakenly left his sawn-off shotgun behind.

The victim eventually was able to free himself and fled to a neighbouring home, where he was able to call the police.

He had suffered a fractured eye socket during the beating, as well as bruising and swelling, chipped and broken teeth, grazes and cuts. He continued to suffer from headaches and vomiting for some time afterward.

The victim's phone was tracked using the Find My Phone app to a nearby property occupied by one of Simon's acquaintances.

At 3pm the police arrived there. They found the ute hidden under a tarpaulin and the guns and other stolen items elsewhere on the property.

In court, Simon's counsel David Allan says methamphetamine addiction had fuelled the crime – however he was committed to changing his ways.

'There is another side to Mr Simon which clearly got overtaken by the severity of his addiction.”

Simon must serve 45% of his seven-year sentence before he can be considered for parole.

- Mike Mather/Stuff.