The appropriate sentencing range for rape accompanied by grievous bodily harm, robbery with violence and burglary on a plea of guilty is 10 to 14 years imprisonment. Youth of the offender (here, 17 years old) may be largely offset by the persistent and vicious nature of the assault, serious ongoing consequences for the victim, lack of genuine remorse, and deliberate ingestion of drugs with knowledge of their behavioural effects. A sentence at the top of the range for a 17-year-old offender is not manifestly excessive in such circumstances, though the Court acknowledged a slightly lower sentence could not have been held manifestly inadequate.
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