Delay before charging is not a significant mitigating factor where the offence is not stale, the delay is partly attributable to the offender's own conduct (denying the offence or remaining silent), and the only uncertainty suffered was whether police could make a case. The relevant uncertainty for the Todd principle is uncertainty about being charged, not uncertainty about whether the prosecution can prove the case. Where an offender is already serving sentences for unrelated offences, the totality principle does not justify making a new sentence for a separate and distinct offence entirely concurrent so as to add no effective punishment.
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