Practitioners acting for young offenders with complex neurodevelopmental disabilities and childhood trauma should note that while Verdins limb 1 reductions may be moderated where voluntary drug use is intertwined with mental health conditions, limb 5 (burden of incarceration) and Bugmy disadvantage principles can still substantially reduce sentence. The case also confirms that on a CYFA s 424 rehearing appeal, the court is confined to the sentencing powers available under the Act as it read at the time of the original Children's Court sentence, not as amended subsequently.
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