Under s 44 of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW), the focus when finding special circumstances is on whether a shorter than usual non-parole period is warranted, not whether a longer than usual parole period is needed. Community reconciliation and restorative justice considerations are relevant to sentencing but must be approached with considerable caution in serious offences, and cannot override the need for the non-parole period to reflect the objective gravity of the offence. Untested, self-serving statements made by prisoners to experts in sentencing proceedings should be given very limited weight where the prisoner does not give evidence.
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