The Supreme Court held that a magistrate's failure to state the extent of the sentencing reduction for a guilty plea under s 9AA(5) of the Sentencing Act 1995 (WA) constituted an error of law which, combined with the inability to exclude the possibility the error affected the sentence, gave rise to a miscarriage of justice. The Court further held that a sentence of 7 months' immediate imprisonment for shoplifting spirits valued at $405 was manifestly excessive as to type, finding it was not reasonably open to the magistrate to be positively satisfied that no earlier sentencing option under s 39(2) was appropriate. On re-sentencing, the Court imposed a $200 fine suspended for six months, taking into account 54 days already served in custody.
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