Where offences were committed decades earlier and the offender has been completely rehabilitated, the effects of delay — including rehabilitation, cessation of substance abuse, moral change, and genuine remorse — must be taken into account in fixing both the head sentence and the non-parole period. However, the character and gravity of the offences (here, multiple rapes of children) may justify a substantial sentence and non-parole period notwithstanding complete rehabilitation. A non-parole period of three-quarters of the head sentence is not necessarily manifestly excessive even where rehabilitation is complete, because the non-parole period has a penal element and must reflect punishment, denunciation and general deterrence. An appellate court cannot substitute its own view of the appropriate weight to be given to competing sentencing considerations.
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