Mental illness is relevant to sentencing in three ways: (1) where it contributes to the commission of the offence, reducing moral culpability; (2) where it renders the offender an inappropriate vehicle for general deterrence; and (3) where a custodial sentence weighs more heavily on the mentally ill offender. The utilitarian value of an early guilty plea must be discounted separately from the strength of the Crown case. Guideline judgments should be used as a check on an independently assessed sentence, not as a starting point from which to adjust.
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