A sentencing judge cannot reduce the weight given to general deterrence in serious drug trafficking cases on the basis of psychiatric evidence of cognitive impairment where the offender's own conduct, expressions of remorse, and acceptance of responsibility contradict the claimed inability to exercise proper social judgment. The fact that an offence was committed while on bail is significant as an aggravating factor beyond merely attracting the cumulative sentencing provisions of s 16(3C) of the Sentencing Act 1991. Sentences of five years for trafficking in more than double the commercial quantity of heroin, committed while on bail, are manifestly inadequate.
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