Sentences of imprisonment for armed robbery in company may be suspended where the circumstances are truly exceptional, including where the offender is a youthful first offender with no personal motive, strong antecedents, and no prospect of reoffending. General deterrence may be sufficiently served by the imposition and length of the sentence without requiring immediate service. However, the dissent emphasises that sentencing judges who decline to suspend in such cases may not be in error, particularly where they have had the advantage of seeing and hearing the offender.
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