Drug addiction is not per se a mitigating factor in sentencing but is a relevant circumstance that may have mitigatory effect depending on the facts. It may explain that the offender is not a professional criminal, may be relevant to rehabilitation prospects, and the circumstances in which the addiction arose (particularly addiction acquired in adolescence) may bear on moral culpability. However, considerations of deterrence and community protection may outweigh any mitigatory effect. A starting point of 15 years' imprisonment for property offences committed by a 19-year-old first adult offender was held to be crushing.
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