A trial judge who identifies the central issue in a rape case as whether the alleged acts occurred does not thereby foreclose the jury's consideration of other elements (consent, mens rea), provided the judge instructs on all elements and relates the evidence to those issues, even if succinctly. Sentences of four years imprisonment for digital rape at the lower end of seriousness, committed in unusual circumstances by an offender with no relevant antecedents, were manifestly excessive; three years imprisonment was substituted.
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