For serious offences of torture involving protracted brutality, life-threatening conduct, and a prior conviction for similar offending, the appropriate starting point is eight to ten years' imprisonment, reduced to approximately six years for a plea of guilty. A sentence equivalent to four years for such offending is manifestly inadequate. Where a serious violent offence declaration is made, reducing the head sentence to account for pre-sentence custody rather than declaring it as time served works to the offender's advantage because the 80 per cent minimum service requirement applies to the lower head sentence.
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