The Verdins principles on mental impairment and sentencing apply in Western Australia and are not confined to serious psychiatric illness but extend to any mental disorder, abnormality or impairment of mental function. Where an offender's substance abuse and offending pre-date a supervening mental impairment, the ameliorating effect on sentence is limited. Statistical evidence of declining burglary rates in Western Australia means there is no basis for increased firmness in sentencing for burglary on grounds of prevalence.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 51 later cases that cite this judgment.
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