Voluntary intoxication is an aggravating factor where the offender has a known history of alcohol-fuelled violence, because consuming alcohol in those circumstances involves a degree of premeditation. An appellate court will not interfere with a sentencing judge's refusal to suspend a sentence unless the appellant demonstrates that suspension was the only reasonable course open. A sentencing judge is not required to characterise rehabilitation prospects as 'good' merely because the offender has made notable progress; 'reasonable' is a permissible characterisation where the offender's reform is recent and the underlying problem persists.
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