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sets out certain powers and obligations of the County Court when hearing an appeal under clause 254. In particular, an appeal must be conducted as a rehearing and the appellant is not bound by the plea entered in the Magistrates' Court. The County Court must set aside the sentence of the Magistrates' Court and may impose any sentence which the Magistrates' Court could have imposed and may exercise any power which the Magistrates' Court could have exercised. A notice of appeal must include a statement to the effect that the appellant is aware that the County Court may impose a more severe sentence than the sentence that the appellant is appealing. The Victorian Parliament Law Reform Committee (the VPLRC) in its report on De Novo Appeals to the County Court recommended that the current law be amended so that the County Court be required to provide a warning, as early as possible during the hearing, if the court is considering imposing a more severe sentence than the sentence originally imposed in the Magistrates' Court in order to give the appellant an opportunity to abandon the appeal. Division 2—Appeal by DPP against sentence