The 'worst category' classification under BLM, which permits sentences at or near the statutory maximum outside previously established ranges, applies only to individual offences and not to the assessment of total effective sentences for multiple offences. Where no individual sentence is at or near the statutory maximum, the total effective sentence must be assessed by normal application of the totality principle, including comparison with sentences in comparable cases. For serious historic child sexual offending involving multiple victims over extended periods, total effective sentences in the range of 14-16 years (post-transitional) represent the upper end of comparable cases in Western Australia.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 34 later cases that cite this judgment.
10 of the 34 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.