Where a sentencing judge's remarks state an incorrect maximum penalty, the Court of Appeal will act on the sentencing remarks as the published statement of the court rather than on the judge's report suggesting the error was a slip. Consent to representative counts must be express and unequivocal, and uncharged acts must be described with sufficient particularity; uncertainty about the impact of insufficiently particularised uncharged acts on sentencing will reopen the sentencing discretion. In historical sexual offence cases, the appellant's advanced age, serious ill health, very low risk of reoffending, and the lengthy delay between offending and sentencing are significant mitigating factors.
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