The Court articulated four broad principles applicable to sentencing elderly offenders: (1) allowance for reduced moral culpability where age-related factors contribute; (2) allowance where age-related circumstances make imprisonment more arduous; (3) account may be taken of destruction of expectation of useful life after release, but the offender may forfeit this right through serious offending; (4) deterrence and denunciation remain important but the public will understand a less severe sentence where age-related factors justify leniency. Large-scale drug trafficking remains in the category of offences where advanced age attracts little mitigation.
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