The Verdins principles concerning impaired mental functioning may in principle apply to property offences committed in the context of battered woman syndrome and learned helplessness, though the Court left the validity of this application as a matter for future elucidation. An erroneous statement of law by a sentencing judge during the plea hearing does not necessarily vitiate the sentence if the sentence imposed is compatible with proper application of principle. Where a sentencing judge's remarks during the plea necessarily open up the prospect of a non-parole period, there is no obligation to specifically invite submissions on that course.
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