Where a weapon is found loaded at the time of arrest some hours after a robbery, the retrospective operation of the doctrine of continuance may be applied to establish that the weapon was loaded at the time of the offence, particularly where the offender does not give evidence or make a statement that the weapon was not loaded at the relevant time. The Henry guideline judgment for s 97(1) armed robbery (maximum 20 years) does not directly apply to the more serious offence under s 97(2) (maximum 25 years).
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