A sentence of three years imprisonment with parole after eight months is within range for armed robbery committed by a 17-year-old with a juvenile criminal history who was on probation at the time of the offence, notwithstanding an early guilty plea, full cooperation with police, and youth. The fact that it was 'open' to the sentencing judge to impose a less severe sentence does not establish error of the kind required by House v The King. McMurdo P's dissent highlights the ongoing anomaly of Queensland being the only Australian jurisdiction sentencing 17-year-olds in the adult criminal justice system.
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