Where a sentencing judge has recognised the Fernando/Bugmy/Munda principles regarding an Aboriginal offender's disadvantaged background, it will only be in an unusual case that an appeal court will be able to conclude that the judge has failed to apply them so that the error is detectable in the sentence imposed. The Fernando/Bugmy/Munda principles reflect an irresolvable tension in domestic violence cases, and demonstrated error with respect to putative individual sentences must be shown to have affected the aggregate sentence to establish manifest excess.
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