The Fernando sentencing principles apply to recognise social disadvantage that precedes crime regardless of the offender's ethnicity, and are not limited to offenders from remote communities. Evidence of early removal from parental care, absence of parental figures, limited education, and early onset of substance abuse is sufficient to engage the Fernando principles. Section 21A(2)(m) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 cannot be taken into account as an aggravating factor for individual offences where the multiplicity of victims or criminal acts arises from the number of offences charged rather than the character of any individual offence.
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