Where an offender is sentenced for manslaughter on the ground of diminished responsibility, the mitigating effect of that finding does not exhaust all available mitigation. Ordinary mitigating factors such as a plea of guilty and personal circumstances may still be separately allowed for, either by reducing the head sentence or by fixing parole eligibility at less than half the sentence. The killing of a child by a mentally ill mother is a distinct sentencing category that should not be equated with diminished responsibility manslaughter cases involving violence between adults.
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