A sentencing judge must identify the features of an offence that support an assessment of its objective gravity; a bare statement of opinion as to where the offence falls on the scale of objective seriousness is insufficient. The theft of a motor vehicle using a key found during a burglary, where the vehicle is recovered undamaged about a week later, falls toward the bottom of the range for s 154F offences dealt with on indictment. Near-parity between indicative sentences for offences of markedly different seriousness, combined with substantial accumulation for closely connected offences, may render an aggregate sentence manifestly excessive.
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