A sentencing judge may properly refer to community expectations when sentencing, provided the reference is to the expectations of informed and objective members of the public, not to misconceived public perceptions that sentences are too lenient. The concept that an otherwise appropriate sentence for a serious sexual offence against a child should be moderated by the offender's paedophilic tendencies has little if any part to play in the sentencing discretion. R v MacNeil Brown does not require the prosecutor to have obtained instructions as to sentencing range prior to the plea hearing; the submission as to range may properly be made after the conclusion of the offender's plea in mitigation.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 17 later cases that cite this judgment.
5 of the 17 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.