When sentencing summarily for an indictable offence, the magistrate must consider the full sentencing spectrum up to the indictable maximum, not treat the summary jurisdiction maximum as the ceiling for the worst case; if the appropriate sentence exceeds the summary maximum, the magistrate should decline to deal with the matter summarily. A sentencing tariff approach is not applicable to assault offences, which require individual assessment. The absence of actual injury to a victim of assault is not a mitigating factor but merely the absence of an aggravating factor.
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