Where a sentencing judge erroneously invokes the serious drug offender provisions under pt 2A of the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic) but corrects the error before the sentence is recorded in court records, the sentencing remarks should be read as if the erroneous references did not appear, and the sentence is not vitiated. Even where pt 2A is erroneously applied, if the sentencing judge expressly states that a sentence beyond what is proportionate to the gravity of the offending is not required for community protection, the error cannot have materially affected the sentence and is not vitiating.
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