The Wong sentencing guideline range of 6-9 years for couriers and low-level participants in mid-level trafficable quantity drug importation offences was intended to apply to cases involving guilty pleas, not only to cases that went to trial. The repeal of s 16G of the Crimes Act (Cth) normally leads to heavier sentences than the pre-repeal pattern. Committing a drug offence to pay off a debt to a drug supplier does not constitute the kind of addiction-linked mitigation recognised in Selim and Bernath, which requires a direct link between the offence and satisfying an immediate craving.
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