Where no circumstance of aggravation is charged in the indictment under s 339(3) of the Criminal Code 1899 (Qld), and no agreed facts are placed before the sentencing judge on a negotiated plea, the sentencing judge's findings of fact (which may be more favourable to the offender than the prosecution case) will bind the appellate court. Counsel must state the agreed factual basis for a negotiated plea to avoid this difficulty. A fully suspended sentence of two and a half years for assault occasioning bodily harm in a domestic violence context was upheld where the sentencing judge did not find the offender deliberately poured boiling water on the victim.
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