A head sentence of five years imprisonment (half the maximum) for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing death while adversely affected by an intoxicating substance under s 328A Criminal Code (Qld) is within range where the offender's impairment from sleep deprivation due to drug use is equivalent to a BAC of .28, the impaired driving occurred over a lengthy distance, and the offender was aware of her dangerously depleted capacity for 15 minutes before the collision. However, exceptional mitigating personal factors — including a guilty plea, extraordinary honesty with police, genuine remorse, a troubled personal history, and youth — require significant amelioration of the custodial period before suspension, reducing it from approximately one-third of the head sentence to a lesser period.
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