The foreclosure of a submission in mitigation (that offending was isolated) is not synonymous with treating the fact of multiple complainants as an aggravating factor on sentence. A sentencing judge should be cautious about the use of terms such as 'aggravating' in sentencing and particularly cautious about the way in which other offences may be taken into account in assessing the nature and gravity of individual offences. However, even where such an error is established, the appeal will be dismissed if the degree of cumulation was independently justified by the nature and gravity of the individual offences.
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