A sentencing judge is not required to specifically identify aggravating factors taken into account when sentencing, though it is desirable to do so. A complaint about the weight given to a relevant sentencing consideration does not ordinarily give rise to an express appealable error unless it amounts to a failure to exercise the sentencing discretion. For assault occasioning bodily harm under s 317 of the Criminal Code (WA), a sentence of 18 months' immediate imprisonment is within range for a serious single-punch assault by a security officer causing significant facial fractures, even for a first offender convicted after trial.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 11 later cases that cite this judgment.