A sentencing judge's failure to expressly refer to ss 208 or 209 of the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) or to specifically state why a conditional release order is not appropriate will not vitiate a sentence of detention if, having regard to the seriousness of the offence, a conditional release order could not serve the requisite purposes of sentencing. For very serious sexual offending by juveniles involving premeditated gang rape, sentences of four-and-a-half to five years detention with 50% to serve and convictions recorded are within the permissible range. The absence of gratuitous violence does not reduce the seriousness of gang rape where the group dynamic itself constitutes the coercive force.
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