A four-year licence disqualification for dangerous operation of a motor vehicle causing grievous bodily harm was manifestly excessive where the offender was a mature-age professional driver under financial pressure, had no prior convictions of this nature, and the sentence of imprisonment already substantially served the purposes of punishment, deterrence and denunciation. Lack of remorse does not necessarily indicate future risk to community safety and should not override employment and rehabilitation considerations. The availability of a statutory application to remove a disqualification after two years under s 131(2) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (Qld) is irrelevant to whether the original disqualification period was manifestly excessive.
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