Section 44(2) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) operates in respect of a sentence for an individual offence, not a cumulative period of imprisonment resulting from accumulation of sentences. Where a mental illness has no causal connection to the commission of a particular offence, the sentencing judge is not required to significantly moderate the sentence for that offence on account of the mental illness, though general deterrence should be moderated where the offender's mental illness deprives them of a full understanding of the authority and requirements of the law. The question of how Veen (No 2) principles should operate in the context of the forensic patient regime was left open.
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