Provocation in the non-technical sense (as distinct from the law of homicide) may constitute a mitigating factor in sentencing where the victim's acts or words incited or induced the accused to respond almost immediately or very shortly thereafter while in an agitated or angry state. However, where the accused's offending conduct is temporally separated from the provocative events and the victims' conduct at the time of the offence is innocuous, the events may explain but not excuse the offending, and the victims may be regarded as relatively blameless. A non-parole period of two-fifths of the head sentence may appropriately reflect excellent rehabilitation prospects.
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