The established sentencing range for a single count of causing grievous bodily harm under s 172 of the Criminal Code (Tas) has an upper limit of approximately three to three and a half years' imprisonment, and special reasons must exist before that range can be significantly exceeded. A sentence of five years for a single count of s 172 was manifestly excessive even where the offence involved a prolonged group attack causing life-threatening injuries and the offenders had extensive criminal records, particularly where early pleas of guilty were not adequately reflected. The question of whether unforeseen consequences of criminal conduct are relevant to sentencing remains unresolved in Tasmania.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 3 later cases that cite this judgment.