Hong Kong ( CNN ) -- Madeleine Pulver 's ordeal started last August when a man burst into her room and tied a fake bomb around her neck , and ended on Tuesday when he was sentenced to at least 10 years in jail . The Australian teenager was studying for her final year exams when 52-year-old Paul Douglas Peters broke into her suburban Sydney home and carried out what the prosecution called an act of `` urban terrorism . '' `` The terror instilled can only be described as unimaginable , '' Judge Peter Zahra told the District Court in Sydney during sentencing Tuesday . Pulver was in the courtroom , as were her parents , and the man who , on a Wednesday afternoon , pushed open their unlocked front door and found the 18-year-old student alone in her bedroom . Armed with a baseball bat and wearing a multi-colored balaclava , he told the frightened teenager to sit on the bed while he fixed a bicycle lock attached to a black box around her neck . According to court documents , as Peters walked away , Pulver asked him where we was going . `` Count to two hundred ... I 'll be back ... if you move I can see you , I 'll be right here , '' he replied . She waited . Around her neck was also two-page typed note and a USB stick in a plastic sleeve . After a few minutes Pulver yelled out . There was no response . She texted her parents : Call the police . Then she read the note . `` Powerful new technology plastic explosives are located inside the small black combination case delivered to you . The case is booby trapped . It can ONLY be opened safely , if you follow the instructions and comply with its terms and conditions . '' With one look at the word `` explosives '' she knew what was around her neck . She phoned her father . Call the police , she begged . The note went on : . `` If you disclose these Instructions , future instructions , any correspondence , Remittance instructions enclosures , direction or any other relevant fact outlined here or elsewhere , to any Federal or State agency , the Police or FBI , or to any non-family member , it will trigger an immediate BRIAN DOUGLAS WELLS event . '' Pulver phoned her father back . Do n't call the police . It was too late . Sitting alone in her bedroom , Pulver was presumably waiting for what would come first , the police or the blast . When officers arrived they `` found the victim in a hysterical state and crying uncontrollably , '' court documents state . Read more : New details emerge in Australian collar bomb case . It 's not clear whether the name Brian Douglas Wells meant anything to the Australian schoolgirl , but Peters had borrowed the name of an American pizza delivery man who was killed after a collar bomb fixed to his neck exploded in 2003 . He was forced to wear the device by co-conspirators in a bank heist . It exploded as he sat in a parking lot soon after being stopped by police . Peters was only in the house for a matter of minutes , but it would take police nine hours to determine that the box contained no explosives , and 10 hours to remove it . The entire time Pulver supported the box with her hands for fear it may explode . Outside the court Tuesday , Pulver expressed relief at the sentencing . `` I am pleased with today 's outcome and that I can now look to a future without Paul Peters ' name being linked to mine , '' she told the assembled media . Behind the events of that day is the tragic unraveling of a once successful man 's life , from an international career in finance to divorce and a heavy drinking problem , where the lines between fact and fiction became increasingly blurred . According to court documents , Peters was an above average student who left university with a double degree in law and economics . He had a successful career in Hong Kong , where he grew up , before moving to the U.S. with his second wife and young family to take a high-level position with a U.S. firm . Promoted to be managing director of the same firm , he `` achieved substantial financial rewards and maintained a high lifestyle . '' However , around six years ago , his marriage broke down . His wife filed for divorce and told him that he would n't see his children again . According to court documents , Peters told one of three psychiatrists asked to examine him that `` that is where the story really starts . '' Disillusioned with the banking industry , Peters moved back to Asia and started writing a book . Initially it was a historical novel set in Hong Kong , but morphed into a tale of revenge featuring a character called `` John Chan . '' Peters told the examining psychiatrist that he as became more involved in his book he took on Chan 's persona . According to court documents , `` he said the suburb of Mosman was like the Hong Kong peak and he wanted to create in his own mind what the nemesis in his book could have been doing . '' During sentencing , the judge debunked suggestions that Peters was motivated by a confused reality and said the motive , beyond reasonable doubt , was extortion . `` The offender intended to place the very young victim in fear that she was going to be killed in order to ensure compliance with the directions in the demand . The offender did so in order to extort money from the victim , '' Judge Zahra said . The plan ultimately failed , the judge said , because police were called , the media was alerted , and Peters decided to abandon his efforts to extort money . Five days after entering the house , Peters flew from Sydney to Los Angeles before boarding a connecting flight to Louisville , Kentucky . He was arrested there on August 15 and later extradited to Australia . It remains unclear why Peters targeted an 18-year-old girl and it would be `` unproductive to speculate , '' said Judge Zahra . Outside the court , Bill Pulver said of his daughter : `` Maddie Pulver is a very , very special young lady who has handled herself with incredible poise and dignity . We 're unbelievably proud of her . '' Peters was sentenced to 13 years and six months in prison , with a non-parole period of 10 years .
Man who attached fake collar ##s to Sydney teen sentenced . Officer Douglas was to serve at least 10 years of his sentence . Police took 10 hours to dismantle the device around Madeleine Pulver 's neck . During trial , Judge Peter Zahra said Peters ' motivation was extortion .