The correct interpretation of the first alternative in R v Smith (1987) 44 SASR 587 is that an offender's ill health or disability makes imprisonment a greater burden, not that imprisonment makes the ill health a greater burden. If a disabled person will find prison life more difficult than an able-bodied person, they are more severely punished by the same sentence, and this is a mitigating factor as part of equality before the law. R v Boyes (2004) 8 VR 230 should not be followed on this point.
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