Wayne William Howlett, who fired 25 bullets into a Hobart cocktail bar, has been sentenced to five years in jail, with a minimum non-parole period of three years.

Key points: The court had heard Howlett had had an argument with the owner of Pablo's Cocktails and Dreams before the shooting

The court had heard Howlett had had an argument with the owner of Pablo's Cocktails and Dreams before the shooting The judge said Howlett would have known there was a chance people were behind the door when he peppered it with 25 shots

The judge said Howlett would have known there was a chance people were behind the door when he peppered it with 25 shots His defence lawyer had previously told the court only drug abuse could explain his behaviour

There were 30 people inside Pablo's Cocktails and Dreams — in a small laneway bar in Hobart's CBD — in June 2018 when Howlett opened fire.

The bullets, fired from an ex-military semi-automatic rifle, tore through the club's steel-clad door.

Howlett had another 140 rounds with him that night, which coincided with an event at the end of the Dark Mofo festival.

His sentence will be backdated to June last year.

Howlett had pleaded guilty to recklessly discharging a firearm and damaging property.

Howlett's world expanded with opportunities that came around because of his powerlifting, including travel to Russia. ( Facebook: Wayne Howlett )

Justice Michael Brett said it was "pure luck" that nobody was seriously injured or killed.

Justice Brett said Howlett would have known that there were people inside the club.

He said Howlett had no way of knowing who was behind the door when he opened fire.

The attack happened minutes after closing time and Justice Brett said Howlett — knowing the layout of the club — would have know the chance of someone being directly behind the door was high.

He accepted that a sporting injury has seen the power lifter return to drugs, and that he was "in the grips of drug addiction" at the time of the crime.

The court has heard powerlifter Wayne Howlett suffered injuries that ended that career. ( Facebook: Slaughterhouse Gym )

But he did not accept that Howlett had acted on impulse and with no memory of attack because of the drugs.

He said a series of text messages between Howlett and a friend in the six hours leading up to the attack showed that Howlett was aware of what he was doing.

"[This was] instigated by your desire to retaliate against the [manager] of the nightclub for a perceived slight arising from some comments the night before," Justice Brett said.

The judge did not accept Howlett's claims of remorse, saying while the 38-year-old was saddened by the consequences on his own family and life, that was as far as his awareness extended.

Justice Brett said it was not only an attack on the patrons inside the club last night but that by bringing gun violence into the heart of Hobart, Howlett's attack had been on the "otherwise safe and peaceful" community.

Howlett spiralled into depression after he lost the ability to compete in powerlifting. ( Facebook: Wayne Howlett )

The Supreme Court heard on a previous occasion that Howlett had had a disagreement with the bar's owner hours before the incident.

The court had heard that about six hours before the shooting Howlett had told a friend the club's owner was unhappy with him, and that he was "debating what measures to take" to respond to the disagreement.

The lawyer for the 38-year-old internationally recognised champion powerlifter said in earlier court appearances that the only logical explanation for why Howlett would smear red warpaint on his face and travel to the bar with an illegal high-powered weapon was that he under the influence of drugs.

"This is so bizarre, so out of the range of things you would expect him to do … that alone would suggest that there is some kind of trigger, which is clearly explained by drugs," lawyer Greg Richardson told the court.