A Melbourne man who was part of a group planning to sail to the southern Philippines to work with Muslim militants to overthrow the government has been sentenced to three years and 10 months in prison.

Key points: Thorne pleaded guilty last week, and may be released on March 26 with time already served

Thorne pleaded guilty last week, and may be released on March 26 with time already served The plot involved six men sailing a boat from Cape York to the Philippines to back Muslim militants

The plot involved six men sailing a boat from Cape York to the Philippines to back Muslim militants The men used coded sentences and online aliases and sought bank loans to fund the plan

Shayden Thorne is one of six men to plead guilty to preparing for a "foreign incursion" in mid-2016.

Last week, four of his co-accused — Paul Dacre, Antonino Granata and brothers Murat and Kadir Kaya — were given jail terms for their role in equipping themselves for a journey to the Mindanao region of the Philippines to support Muslim insurgents.

The plot ran from November 2015 until their arrest in May 2016.

The men purchased a four-wheel-drive vehicle and a boat and towed it to Cape York in Queensland.

Court documents showed they had bought survival gear as well as navigational equipment — sometimes using retail rewards cards despite efforts to cover up their planning — and had drawn maps of the sea near their targeted destination.

The leader of the group, Robert Cerantonio, will be sentenced next month.

Thorne, 31, was set to go to trial next month but opted to plead guilty last week, which led to the lifting of suppression orders in the case.

The men had adopted coded sentences, online aliases and sought bank loans to fund the trip.

They have all pleaded guilty to preparing to go "with the intent to engage in hostile activity" to encourage the overthrow of the government so sharia law could be imposed.

Court documents showed each of the men had "an affinity with Islamic extremism".

In sentencing Thorne, Justice Michael Croucher noted he had not "formally renounced the extremist beliefs that motivated his offending".

"[But] I am satisfied he has shown positive signs that he is moving away from such a position," Justice Croucher said.

'Foredoomed to failure'

Thorne was born in Australia and is a fluent Arabic speaker after moving to Saudi Arabia as a boy with his Australian mother and Moroccan stepfather in 1997.

The court heard his stepfather was violent and sadistic and that he moved to Perth when his mother fled the marriage.

When he returned to Saudi Arabia, he was homeless at one point and was radicalised by a sheikh who offered him a place to stay.

The court heard he was arrested in Saudi Arabia in 2011, and was tortured during interrogation over a six-week period.

He spent several years in detention before being deported to Australia in 2014, where he moved to Melbourne and met his wife.

The court was told Thorne was prevented from taking his wife and child to Malaysia in October 2015 and his passport was seized.

The court heard he wanted to live under sharia law and raise his son in a Muslim country.

Court documents showed all of the men had their Australia passports seized at different times, so they could not leave the country legally.

Justice Croucher told the court "the whole venture was poorly planned and, I fear, foredoomed to failure".

"It's hard to imagine that the group would have made it very far past the breakers off the far north of Queensland," he said.

He set a non-parole period of two years and 10-and-a-half months.

Thorne has already served the bulk of his minimum sentence and could be released on March 26.