The Court imposed the maximum penalty of 14 years' imprisonment for culpable driving causing death, finding the offence was of the utmost seriousness given the combination of extreme speed (at least 177 km/hr), drug impairment, unlicensed driving of a stolen vehicle on the wrong side of the road, and the resulting death. The Court held that where an offender poses a significant ongoing danger to the community, mitigating subjective factors such as youth, First Nations background, childhood disadvantage, and reduced moral culpability from cognitive impairment may be reflected solely in the non-parole period rather than the head sentence. The Court also confirmed that while the [name withheld] aggravating factors checklist is useful, the ACT is not bound by NSW guideline judgments.
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