Sentences of 7 years' imprisonment for statutory kidnapping involving the premeditated removal of very young children overseas by a parent, in breach of a family violence intervention order, are within the available sentencing range notwithstanding the absence of violence in the taking itself. The case confirms that significant premeditation, breach of trust, and the context of family violence are serious aggravating features for parental kidnapping offences. On the conviction appeal, the case illustrates that cross-examination decisions with a legitimate forensic basis, even if ultimately unsuccessful, will not ground an incompetence appeal.
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