Graham John Enniss, 38 of Smithton, pleaded guilty to one count of escape, one count of burglary and two counts of stealing in the Hobart Magistrates Court on Friday.

In addition to the jail term, Magistrate Robert Webster ordered Enniss to pay $216.06 in victim compensation.

Enniss was serving eight years' jail for crimes including shooting at police when he escaped from Risdon Prison on September 23, 2019.

He used a hole in the roof, scaffolding on site at the prison and a makeshift rope, constructed out of his duvet, to escape.

Once off prison grounds, Enniss hid in bushland to evade police and stole supplies including food and clothes from a caravan and clothesline.

He stole $600 worth of items and caused $900 damage to the caravan.

Enniss was captured by police the next day one kilometre from the prison.

Enniss' lawyer Stephen Wright told the court on Friday his client had expressly wanted convey his apologies to the community for any angst he caused in relation to the escape.

"I didn't want to hurt anyone," Enniss interjected during sentencing.

Mr Wright said Enniss' escape had been "opportunistic", with his client saying to him it had seemed like a good idea at the time.

"It was a very spur of the moment thing to do," he said.

He claimed prisoners were being denied their human rights due to issues within the prison system both now and at the time of Enniss' escape.

"The prison is in constant lockdown. He has had two hours outside in seven days," Mr Wright said.

Mr Wright said Enniss had spent most of his adult life in prison and struggled to reintegrate into society on the North-West Coast on previous occasions he had been released from custody.

"There are limited opportunities for him," he said.

Mr Webster said the mitigating factors in sentencing were Enniss' personal situation and the fact there had been no violence involved in his escape.

But he said the violent nature of Enniss' previous offences causing a high degree of public alarm during the escape warranted a harsher sentence.