When assessing whether an offence is 'particularly heinous' under s 176(3)(b) of the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld), the court must give weight to subjective circumstances including the offender's mental state, the causes of that mental state, the offender's upbringing, and the offender's demonstrated capacity for rehabilitation — not merely the objective facts of the offence. Where a child offender's psychotic disorder was induced by the victim's own conduct in supplying drugs, those subjective circumstances may preclude a finding of particular heinousness even where the objective facts of the offence are horrific. The maximum penalty under s 176 is 10 years unless the offence is found to be particularly heinous, in which case life imprisonment becomes available.
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