A non-custodial sentence for dangerous driving causing death is not manifestly inadequate where the dangerous driving is constituted by inattention (rather than alcohol or excessive speed), the offender is youthful with no criminal history, pleads guilty at an early stage, and shows genuine remorse, even where the offender was unlicensed and driving a vehicle with a dirty windscreen and defective brakes. The exclusion of the imprisonment-as-last-resort principle under s 9(3)(b) of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) does not mandate a custodial sentence for every offence resulting in physical harm.
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