The Murphy principle (reconsidering sentence when other convictions on the same indictment are quashed) does not apply where the surviving count was clearly the worst offence on the indictment and the sentence imposed for it is appropriate when assessed by reference to the circumstances of that offence alone. A sentence of eight years' imprisonment for a single count of rape of a 12½-year-old stepdaughter by a stepfather, involving force and threats, is within the appropriate range.
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