The case confirms that rehabilitation, while almost always a consideration of great importance for young offenders, does not 'swamp' all other sentencing considerations. A sentencing judge may decline a Youth Justice Centre Order where the nature of the offending is serious, the offender has a significant criminal history including prior breaches of youth supervision, and the statutory criteria under s 32 of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) are properly considered. The Court of Appeal will itself obtain a suitability assessment where the sentencing judge failed to do so, and the result of that assessment may inform the appeal outcome.
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