A personality disorder falling short of serious psychiatric illness, when its symptoms are sufficiently related to the offending conduct, may reduce moral culpability and ameliorate the need for general deterrence in sentencing for murder. The fact that an offender was the victim of a prior serious criminal offence is relevant to sentencing where the psychological sequelae of that victimisation contributed to the offending. Sentences of 27 years or above for murder are generally reserved for the most aggravated categories such as multiple killings, contract killings, or killings involving torture.
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