In sentencing for culpable driving causing death, denunciation and general deterrence must be at the forefront of the sentencing synthesis, and mitigating factors such as youth, good character and absence of prior convictions cannot play the same role as in other offences. A sentence of four and a half years for culpable driving involving a blood alcohol concentration of 0.150 and speed of 158 kph in a 60 kph zone, causing one death and two serious injuries, was manifestly inadequate and was increased to a total effective sentence of seven years with a four-year non-parole period.
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