A wholly suspended sentence for rape committed by a serious sexual offender with prior convictions for sexual offences and prior imprisonment is manifestly inadequate. Non-custodial sentences for rape should be given very rarely and would be practically out of the question where the offender is a serious sexual offender under the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). The requirements of s.6D, including the obligation to regard protection of the community as the principal purpose of sentence, weigh heavily against wholly suspended sentences in such cases.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 2 later cases that cite this judgment.