A sentencing judge cannot rely upon a conviction being recorded at the same sentencing hearing as the basis for classifying an offender as a 'serious drug offender' under s 6B of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic). Where such an erroneous classification triggers the mandatory requirement under s 6D to treat protection of the community as the principal purpose of sentencing, the sentencing discretion is vitiated regardless of the actual weight given to s 6D.
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