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2 On the following day, 11 March 2005, you committed further serious offences to which you have pleaded guilty. These offences took place at the home of another victim to whom I shall refer as KK. She was a woman of 63 years of age who lived by herself in her home in Dandenong. At about 7 pm that night she heard noises coming from the area of her front door. She walked towards the door and there she observed you placing the security chain in place across the door. Count 1 on the presentment relating to your victim KK is a count of aggravated burglary and carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment.

3 Count 2 on that presentment relates to your false imprisonment of KK from the time that you entered the premises until the time that you left. Upon observing you in her home, your victim told you to leave. However you did not do so. Rather you commenced to punch your victim in the eye area with a clenched fist. She described your actions at this time as being like those "of a boxer". The terror which she suffered from this assault upon her in her own home can only be imagined. She bled profusely. This, however, did not deter you.

4 You pushed her into her bedroom and onto the floor where you lay on top of her applying pressure to her throat with your fingers. The effect of this was that it was difficult for her to breathe or to yell out. Your victim, however, continued to struggle. You removed her underwear and unzipped your jeans. You attempted to penetrate her vagina with your penis but you were not able to do so by reason of the resistance of your victim. These circumstances are the subject of count 3 on the presentment relating to your victim KK, a count of attempted rape which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment.

5 Having failed to penetrate your victim on this occasion you went to her kitchen. Your victim crawled towards a window with the intention of yelling for help. However, before she could do this you returned from the kitchen with a knife obtained by you. Your victim attempted to repel you by pushing you with her feet, but you took off her trousers and threw her onto the bed. You once again put your fingers around her throat. She begged you to take her to hospital as she was bleeding profusely. However, you continued to punch her. You bit her on the face between her nose and lip causing her lip to be torn. She continued to resist you as you attempted to penetrate her vagina with your penis. She could not see anything at that time because of the injuries to her eyes. You then succeeded in penetrating her vagina with your penis. At this stage she was on the floor of the bedroom. She was naked from the waist down. You were holding the knife in one hand and choking her around the throat. You then slashed her throat with the knife on two occasions. The rape of KK which took place during this time is the subject of count 4 on the presentment. As I have said, the crime of rape carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment.

6 Throughout this time and in particular after you had slashed her throat your victim begged you to take her to hospital. There can be no doubt that your victim believed that she was going to die.

7 Count 5 on the presentment is a rolled up count relating to your serious assaults upon your victim by punching her and by slashing her throat with a knife on two occasions. A count of intentionally causing serious injury carries a maximum penalty of 20 years' imprisonment.

8 In the course of begging you to take her to hospital your victim got her purse and gave you $100. You then took all the change and pulled her credit cards out of her purse before fleeing. These matters are the subject of the count of armed robbery being count 6 on the presentment relevant to your victim KK. Armed robbery carries a maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment.

9 You then fled the scene by breaking the kitchen window. Before doing so you said, "Sorry Mum, sorry Mum". After you left, your victim crawled from the bedroom to the kitchen and yelled for help. However, she observed two black men outside her premises and suffered great fear. She crawled back to her bedroom and telephoned her sister for help. Soon thereafter she was conveyed to the Alfred Trauma Centre by ambulance.

10 The injuries which she suffered were severe indeed. She was found to be suffering from black eyes, laceration to her left eyebrow, haemorrhage in her right eye, a fracture of her eye socket, a fracture of her left cheekbone and a fractured nose. In addition she suffered a deep laceration to her upper lip together with incised wounds to the front of the neck. She was diagnosed as suffering a possible fractured larynx. Stab wounds to her back between the right shoulder blade and arms were found. She had a closed head injury and there were lacerations and bruising within the entrance to her vagina. In addition, she suffered from multiple bruising to both arms. The report of the clinical forensic medicine registrar who examined her at the Alfred Hospital observed that the presence of an eye socket fracture suggests direct impact from a blow with a fist or an object requiring a considerable degree of force. The injuries to her back had the features of stab wounds, the depth of which went down to the subcutaneous fat.

11 She was admitted to hospital from the day of the attack for a period of 11 days during which trauma surgery and facio-maxillary surgery were required to be undertaken.

12 The circumstances of this callous attack upon KK in the sanctity of her own home are of the utmost seriousness. The level of violence you imposed upon a defenceless older woman in her home is simply beyond the comprehension of any decent person. Having inflicted serious injury on her face, you then obtained a knife which you used to inflict further serious injury on her. In the course of this horrendous attack upon her, you raped her. The use of a weapon to achieve your purpose is an aggravating factor. The depravity of your sexual attack upon a woman on whom you had just inflicted serious injury is contemptible indeed.

13 It should be observed that on 18 March 2005 your victim identified you from a photo board as the man who attacked her. In addition DNA profiles matching you were found from hairs found at the scene and with sperm taken from a vaginal swab of KK. When you were arrested by police on 14 March 2005 you denied any knowledge of the attack and the rape of your victim KK.

14 Notwithstanding the horrendous nature of your attack upon KK on 11 March 2005 you nevertheless committed further offences on other victims the following day, 12 March 2005. You have pleaded guilty to those offences. That day your two victims, a young woman aged 16 whom I shall call GG and a male friend, who was also at that time aged 16 and whom I shall call EE, were in a room in a small building adjacent to the scout hall in Dandenong where your rape of LL had taken place on 10 March 2005. Whilst they were there you forced your way into the room. EE told you that he and GG were having a private conversation. A discussion took place between you and EE whereby he understood that you wanted to buy drugs. Subsequently you punched EE to the face. You also punched GG to the face. You then stood over her with a razor blade in your hand and slit her clothes down the front and middle. You cut through a singlet and bikini top exposing her breasts. You then cut through her tracksuit pants and underwear. By then she was totally naked. You made EE take off his clothes and when he resisted, you hit him in the head with a half brick making his mouth bleed. GG was forced by you to perform oral sex on EE. She did so through fear. Neither she nor EE consented. Both of them were punched and threatened with a razor blade. The sexual penetration of GG in these circumstances is the subject of count 1 on the presentment, a count of rape, relating to her and to EE. The sexual penetration of EE in such circumstances is the subject of count 2, a count of rape.

15 Following these events, EE was forced to have sexual intercourse with GG. Once again, both participated through fear of being further assaulted. These events form the subject of the counts of rape being counts 3 and 4 on the relevant presentment.

16 In the course of these events occurring you searched GG's handbag and found a pair of scissors which you then used as a weapon. You then told GG to lie down on a couch whereby you penetrated her with your penis. This rape forms part of the subject of count 5 on the relevant presentment, it being a rolled up count.

17 Thereafter you forced GG and EE to have sexual intercourse again. You then alternated with EE in having sexual intercourse with GG. In total GG and EE were forced to have sexual intercourse on three occasions and you raped GG on four occasions. To this extent Counts 3, 4 and 5 are rolled up counts. Throughout these events both GG and EE were the subject of threats of violence and of actual violence. Both were hit with a half brick and threatened with a razor blade and punched. On two separate occasions you put your hand around GG's throat and you also threatened her with the scissors which you had taken from her handbag. You put the razor blade to her breast and nipple on one occasion before raping her and on another occasion you put the scissors near her vagina when she was made to lie down. You cut off hair from hers and from EE's head which hair you put in your pocket. Counts 6 and 7 relate to the injuries you intentionally caused both GG and EE. On the last occasion that GG and EE were forced by you to have sexual intercourse with each other, one of their friends was heard to be calling from outside. GG called out for help. Thereafter you again raped her to the point of ejaculation. Soon thereafter two friends of your victims entered the room and attempted to intervene, during which time GG and EE made their escape, running half naked through a park. The indignities you imposed upon these two young people were gross and utterly despicable.

18 Upon your arrest by police on 14 March 2005 you denied committing any offences against GG and EE. However you were identified from a photo board by one of the witnesses who attempted to intervene shortly before GG and EE made their escape. Furthermore, DNA profiles matching you were found from sperm obtained from a vaginal swab of GG and other material found in her genital area.

19 These are serious offences indeed. You raped three women in a period of three days in violent and frightening circumstances The attack upon KK in her own home was one of horrific violence indeed. The violent and debauched way in which you vilified and degraded your victims GG and EE is reprehensible in the extreme.

20 The victim impact statements filed on behalf of each of your victims are, in each case, a moving testament to the harm you have caused each of them. It is clear that your criminal conduct has caused each of them to suffer serious emotional consequences. In each case there is every likelihood that that emotional trauma will continue well into the future. In addition to the serious psychological consequences of your attack upon KK, and which have required extensive psychological assistance to be provided to her, she remains affected by the physical consequences of your assault upon her. She suffers pain and numbness in the left side of her face and bears physical scars as a constant reminder of your criminal acts upon her.

21 On any view, your crimes have had significant consequences for each of your victims, and must be regarded as very serious indeed.

22 I turn to the matters put before me by your counsel in relation to matters of mitigation. Your counsel concedes, as he must, that the offences comprising the three incidents the subject of each of the three presentments before me are extremely serious offences. It is submitted, however, that there is little evidence of preparation or premeditation in relation to each attack. Rather, the assaults in question had the characteristic of spontaneous unplanned acts of violence. There is weight in this submission. Your conduct does bear the hallmarks of random spontaneous violence. Whilst there is weight in this argument, it must nevertheless be observed that your involvement in offences against LL at the scout hall on 10 March 2005 did not deter you from committing further offences over the next two days. In particular the horrendous circumstances of your attack upon KK, did not prevent you from returning to the area of the scout hall a day later where your offences against GG and EE occurred.

23 Your counsel submits that there is some evidence of your being intoxicated. He argues that LL noted the presence of spray paint around the mouth of the unidentified male involved in the offences against her. Her male companion stated that you and the unidentified male were asking for drugs during the course of the commission of the offences. You were observed by a witness as you jumped from the kitchen window of the house of KK to be "staggering the entire time". Furthermore, both GG and EE stated that when you entered the room near the scout hall you held up an empty spray can and indicated that you wanted drugs.

24 Your counsel informs me that you have instructed him that prior to the offences committed against LL you were chroming. Furthermore, he informs me that you instruct him that you were affected by amphetamines, which you had used intravenously for the first time several hours before your attack upon KK, and that before your attack upon GG and EE you had consumed a significant part of a bottle of bourbon. This may partly explain a diminution of self-control on your part, but cannot in any way excuse or substantially mitigate the gross violence you imposed on KK and the gross indignities forced upon all of your victims.

25 You have pleaded guilty to the offences relating to KK, GG and EE. You are entitled to have that matter taken into account in your favour. The original single presentment in this case listed over 90 prosecution witnesses and it is submitted that in particular, your pleas in relation to the KK, GG and EE matters have facilitated the course of justice in saving those victims' anguish, humiliation and embarrassment. I accept that as being so.

26 Furthermore, I accept that in the case of KK, and through your counsel, you agreed to plead guilty to the offences now before the Court soon after your committal in March 2006.

27 It is argued by your counsel that such pleas are an "unequivocal expression of remorse".

28 Whilst I accept that you are as a matter of law entitled to a reduction of the penalty which I would otherwise have imposed by reason of the fact that your victims KK, GG and EE have been saved the burden of reliving their experiences in court in a contested trial, I am nevertheless far from satisfied that your plea of guilty to these offences is an unequivocal statement of remorse. It appears to me that the case against you in relation to these matters was strong indeed. Indeed, the evidence in relation to the KK case in particular can be said to be overwhelming. It is argued on your behalf that the fact that you apologised to KK and to GG and EE after committing the offences, and the fact that you wore a condom as requested by your victim LL when you raped her, reflect some immediate regret and acknowledgement of the violence in which you were engaged. Furthermore, it is argued that these actions are indicative of your behaviour having been out of character, and of your view that such behaviour was unacceptable. Whilst that may be so, any such conclusion on your behalf was short lived particularly in relation to KK, GG, and EE as demonstrated by the repetitive nature of your offending over the three-day period.

29 Your counsel observes that you have no prior convictions. Whilst that is true, it should be noted that you had been in Australia a very short period of time prior to the first of your offences. I have been given a considerable amount of information about your background. You are now 21 years of age; the evidence before me being that you were born on an unknown date in May of 1985. Your family is from the Shilluk ethnic group of the Sudan. Your father was a mechanic and a driver and also a lay preacher for the Catholic church and as such was a significant person in the Catholic community in the Sudan. He gave evidence on two occasions before me in the course of the proceedings against you and impressed me as an upright decent man who generally endeavoured to tell the truth to the Court. The fact that you belong to an intact and apparently law-abiding family makes your conduct all the more inexplicable.

30 The evidence before me establishes that the imposition of Islamic Sharia Law in the Sudan in 1983 had significant effects upon your family and over a period of time your family was forced to live in relocation camps. In the period between 1992 and 1994 your grandfather was killed by government forces in your presence. Soon thereafter your father was arrested and held for 21 days and tortured by being beaten severely. It was suspected that he was involved with the Sudanese Peoples Liberation Army. At the end of that period of time and after having his legs burned he was dumped in the countryside. He was found in a very bad condition by you and your older brother. Thereafter your family looked for ways to escape from southern Sudan. Eventually your family made its way to Khartoum in early 1999.

31 Originally Sudanese officials refused your family's application for passports unless the family converted to Islam. However those officials finally relented and in October 1999 you travelled to Cairo. You travelled to Cairo by boat, train and bus. I am instructed that on board the boat you met a girl called Deanna who subsequently became your girlfriend in Cairo. In Cairo your family was subject to constant discrimination and indiscriminate violence at the hands of Arab Egyptians. You were pelted with fruit and vegetables on the street and physically attacked by civilians and police who abused you as "monkeys who live in trees". I am informed that near the end of 2003 you were attacked when you went to attend a church soccer game. You were stabbed in the back and slashed down the side of your face. The other Sudanese man with you, a close friend of yours, was killed. Your father paid for your medication, he having been paid that day for his work as a driver delivering food to a displaced persons' camp. Arrests were made by Egyptian police over the attack but because your family feared reprisal the charges were dropped.

32 Finally, you entered Australia together with your family as refugees on 9 February 2005. You have three brothers and three sisters and both your parents are alive. You have had no formal education apart from a short period in Egypt in 2004. The civil war in southern Sudan resulted in the destruction of schools. It was government policy that students attend either Islamic religious schools or not have any schooling at all. Apart from labouring work or helping in hunting or gathering food in detention camps, you have no employment history.

33 Your counsel submits that you have had an extensive history of exposure to violence and have experienced being the victim of violence. When you were about three or four years of age and whilst on your mother's back en route to collect water, two southern Sudanese men were shot dead by government forces only metres from you. You and your parents have instructed your counsel that incidents of this kind were a regular feature of life in southern Sudan particularly until 1999 and that regularly you were exposed to violence and death including attacks by government helicopter, gun ships and aerial bombing. You have informed your counsel of circumstances whereby you were subjected to indiscriminate violence by government officials on a regular basis, which violence continued after you left Sudan and when you were in Egypt.

34 Upon your plea your father Khamis Hakeem gave evidence before me. He produced a statement which confirmed much of the history I have set out above. He said that you had been involved in a number of violent fights with Egyptian youths and that you had been arrested by Egyptian police on two occasions in relation to fighting. He gave evidence that the scar on your face was received when you were attacked by a number of Egyptians. He also said that your brother Patrice did not get involved in fighting, but that you did, when you were "walking with groups".

35 The prosecution relied upon this evidence as evidence that you have a disposition to violence and that your prospects of rehabilitation are in effect bleak. There is some support in the depositions[1] for the fact that you were a violent person in Egypt. However I am really unable to form any view about the circumstances in which you found yourself in Egypt, and which would lead me to form a conclusion adverse to you and to the effect that you are a violent person by reason thereof. The facts surrounding the violence in which you found yourself in Egypt are not provided in sufficient detail to make that finding. I am satisfied, however, that you have been exposed to extensive violence to your family, to others and yourself throughout your short life.

36 In addition, a consultant psychiatrist, Dr Lester Walton, gave evidence before me. A report was prepared by him in relation to his examination of you on 29 August 2006. Dr Walton obtained from you a history which was consistent with that set out above. You told Dr Walton that on the day of your attack upon KK you were affected by amphetamines having used such drug for the first time. You were unable to provide Dr Walton with a more precise description of the amount of drugs taken by you. You told Dr Walton that you had used cannabis and alcohol whilst you were in Egypt. Although you promised yourself you would not use the substances in Australia, you commenced to do so soon after your arrival. You expressed remorse to Dr Walton for your offences. Dr Walton was unable to provide any unequivocal definitive diagnosis. Indeed he was unable to assist the Court in the provision of any comprehensive explanation for your behaviour. He considers it likely that your experiences in the Sudan and in Egypt caused a post traumatic stress disorder. In this regard he considers that once your English skills have improved you will be a candidate for extended psychological counselling directed at such symptoms. He considers that your isolation from family support over a long period of custody will cause an elevated risk of the development of a depressive disorder which may possibly be of suicidal proportions.

37 A report from Sister Mary O'Shannessy, the Director of the Catholic Prison Ministry of Victoria was tendered before me. Sister O'Shannessy has had regular involvement with you since you came into custody at Port Phillip Prison in June 2005. You attend the Catholic Mass at the prison. She has discussed with you your behaviour and she considers that you expressed true remorse to her for what you did to your victims and in particular to your victim KK. In her report she referred to the extreme loneliness and isolation that you have experienced whilst in custody. Additional evidence was put before me that you have attended the Moreland Hall twelve hour drug education program and have proved to be an active participant in that program. Your counsel has informed me that at the time of the commission of these offences you were depressed and upset about having left your girlfriend, Deanna, in Egypt. It would appear that you had a stable relationship with her and that you and she have a son who is now two years of age. Your parents were not happy about your relationship with Deanna. When your parents decided to come to Australia you did not wish to come as you preferred to remain with Deanna and your child. I am informed that you came to Australia on the understanding that your family would assist in sponsoring Deanna to come to Australia but that did not take place. Your parents have informed your counsel that you were depressed, not wanting to eat and repeatedly saying "just bring Deanna" after they told you it was not possible for them to sponsor her to come to Australia. Your counsel informs me that his instructions are that you obtained a message from Deanna that she would have to resort to prostitution to survive and that she had accused you of abandoning her and your child, and that it was these events that immediately preceded your resort to alcohol, cannabis, chroming and amphetamine use which took place at the same time during the commission of these offences.

38 Clearly, your background of living with violence throughout your life cannot be ignored. Someone who has not experienced what you have experienced perhaps cannot fully understand the effects of that violence upon you. Nevertheless, it does not explain why, having come to the safety of this country, you, within weeks, so defiled and abused innocent people who had done you no harm, and wished you no ill. Your background might be of great relevance in explaining your conduct had you been excessively violent in response to some perceived threat. That however is not the circumstance before me. You did not respond to any threat. Rather you found your victims in their own private spaces and imposed your violence and sexual lust upon them.

39 Your young age is a further factor to which I must give weight. You are still a young man. You were nineteen years of age at the date of these offences. I am required to give consideration to the question of rehabilitation. The law takes the view that it is in the community interest that young offenders be sentenced in a way that is likely to lead to their rehabilitation.[2] Whilst it is true that rehabilitation, in the case of youthful offenders, is in most cases the most important sentencing principle, there are cases where just punishment, general deterrence and other sentencing objectives are at least equally important. [3] This, by reason of the seriousness of your offences and by reason of the repetitive nature of your offending, even if over a short period, is one of those cases. Nevertheless, I accept that your possible rehabilitation is a factor that must be weighed in the balance. Your statements of remorse to Dr Walton and to Sister O'Shannassy may be evidence that you are commencing a process of rehabilitation.

40 However, as I have said, in your case other sentencing principles are of significance. Your conduct calls for just punishment which reflects the community's indignation and condemnation of your crimes. General deterrence is a significant factor. It must be apparent to all that violence of the nature inflicted by you on KK and sexual depravity of the nature to which you subjected each of your victims will call for salutary sentences. Specific deterrence remains a significant objective in sentencing you. Furthermore, the nature of your offences, their repetition, and the manner in which they were conducted raises the issue of the protection of the public from you as a most relevant factor.

41 It is a grave step to imprison a young man, particularly one who has had such a disadvantaged childhood and young adolescence as you have had. That is all the more so when by reason of your background and cultural differences, imprisonment may be more isolating for you than for others. I take into account the evidence of Dr Walton relating to your risk of depression. Nevertheless, the gravity of your crimes is such that there is no alternative but to sentence you to a term of imprisonment upon each of the offences of which you have been convicted.

42 Dealing with the offences against LL the subject of presentment T00581038A ("the first presentment"), on count 1, a count of rape, I sentence you to seven years' imprisonment. On count 3 of the first presentment, a count of false imprisonment, I sentence you to two years' imprisonment.

43 Dealing next with the offences against KK the subject of presentment T00581038B ("the second presentment"), on count 1, a count of aggravated burglary, I sentence you to three years' imprisonment. On count 2 of that presentment, a count of false imprisonment, I sentence you to two years' imprisonment. On count 3, a count of attempted rape, I sentence you to three years' imprisonment. On count 4, a count of rape, I sentence you to ten years' imprisonment. Count 5 is a count of intentionally causing serious injury. It should be observed that you have now been convicted and sentenced to a term of imprisonment in relation to two sexual offences as defined by s.6B of Part 2A of the Sentencing Act 1991. Those two sexual offences are Count 1 on the first presentment, the count of rape of LL, and Count 4 on the second presentment, the count of rape of KK. Part 2A of the Sentencing Act applies to a court in sentencing a serious sexual offender for a sexual offence or a violent offence. Causing serious injury intentionally is defined by s.6B of the Act as a violent offence, and accordingly on this count you fall to be sentenced as a serious sexual offender. The effect of this under s.6B of the Sentencing Act, is that in determining the length of the sentence I must regard the protection of the community from you as the principal purpose for which the sentence is imposed. In order to achieve that purpose I may impose a sentence longer than that which is proportionate to the gravity of the offence. I do not intend in all of the circumstances before me to do that. I sentence you on Count 5 of the second presentment to six years' imprisonment. On Count 6, a count of armed robbery I sentence you to one year's imprisonment.

44 I turn now to the counts to which you have pleaded guilty in relation to your victims GG and EE on presentment number T00581038E ("the third presentment"). For the reasons set out above you fall to be sentenced as a serious sexual offender on each of the five counts of rape appearing on this presentment. As stated above, in sentencing you for each of those offences I must regard the protection of the community from you as the principal purpose for which the sentence is to be imposed. I do not consider, however, that a sentence longer than that which is proportionate to the gravity of the offence is required to achieve that purpose. On Count 1 of this presentment, a count of rape, I sentence you to six year's imprisonment. On Count 2 of this presentment, a count of rape, I sentence you to six years' imprisonment. On Count 3 of this presentment, a count of rape, I sentence you to seven years' imprisonment. On Count 4 of this presentment, a count of rape, I sentence you to seven years' imprisonment. On Count 5 of this presentment, a count of rape, I sentence you to seven years' imprisonment. On Count 6 of this presentment, a count of intentionally cause injury, I sentence you to one year's imprisonment. On Count 7 of this presentment, a count of intentionally cause injury, I sentence you to one year's imprisonment.

45 It should be observed that s.6E of the Sentencing Act provides that every term of imprisonment imposed on a serious offender for a relevant offence must, unless otherwise directed by the Court, be served cumulatively on other sentences imposed. This would mean that the sentences imposed on Count 5 on the second presentment and Counts 1 to 5 on the third presentment would be served cumulatively on each other and on other sentences should I not otherwise direct. In my view the principles of totality and proportionality require me to so otherwise direct. As the High Court has made clear[4] a sentence, must not exceed that which can be justified as appropriate to the gravity of the crimes considered in the light of its objective circumstances. Furthermore, full cumulation of your sentence would result in a "crushing sentencing" which the principles of totality require me to avoid.

46 Nevertheless, the same principles require me to direct that there be an appropriate cumulation in order to reach an appropriate total effective sentence in all of the circumstances of this case.

47 I direct that three years of the sentence imposed on Count 1 of the first presentment, together with one year of the sentence imposed on Count 1 of the second presentment, together with three years of the sentence imposed on Count 5 of the second presentment, together with two years of the sentence imposed on Count 1 of the third presentment and two years of the sentence imposed on Count 3 of the third presentment, together with three years of the sentence imposed on count 5 of the third presentment be served cumulatively upon each other and upon the sentence imposed on Count 4 of the second presentment. That makes a total effective sentence of 24 years' imprisonment.

48 The consideration of the appropriate non-parole period is a matter of importance, particularly taking into account your relative youth and the possibility of your rehabilitation. It is not the case, as some sections of the media so persistently appear to misunderstand, that the fixing of a non-parole term means that you will be released at the expiry of that term. It will be a matter entirely for the Adult Parole Board to give consideration to your rehabilitation at the expiry of that term, and to whether the community interest is served by your conditional release at that time. However, your young age, your dreadful childhood background, and the possibility of rehabilitation are all factors in my conclusion that a substantial period of eligibility for parole should be allowed. Of course as I say it will be a matter for the Adult Parole Board, in all the circumstances then known, as to whether or not you are released at some time after your non-parole period expires.

49 In all the circumstances before me I consider that a lengthy period of opportunity for parole will enable the Adult Parole Board to give appropriate consideration to your rehabilitation and at the same time ensure, if you are released on parole, that an appropriate supervisory regime for your conditional release is implemented. For these reasons, I proposed to direct that you not be eligible for parole until you have served 17 years imprisonment.

50 I declare that you have been detained for a period of 682 days pending sentence and I direct that this matter be noted in the records of the Court.

51 I note that by reason of s.6 of the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2004, and by reason of your conviction on Count 1 of the first presentment and your conviction on Count 1 of the third presentment, both counts involving the sexual penetration of a child, that you are a registrable offender under that Act, and that subsequent to your release you will be required to comply with the reporting conditions of that Act for the remainder of your life.