R v Michael (a pseudonym)

The statutory assumption under the Youth Justice Act 1992 (Qld) that a conviction ought not be recorded against a child is not displaced merely because the child has committed multiple serious violent offences within a short period, where the offending is attributable to temporary disturbance arising from significant personal adversity, the child has no prior criminal history, and has demonstrated genuine rehabilitative progress while in detention. A sentencing judge's comment indicating that persuasion is needed not to record a conviction does not of itself demonstrate error in the approach to the statutory assumption.