Where the victim of a child sexual offence is among those who would benefit from the offender not being incarcerated (here, through continued mortgage payments on the family home), this is a legitimate consideration in deciding whether to suspend a sentence, distinguishable from the general principle in R v Edwards that only highly exceptional hardship to third parties should influence sentencing. The assessment of objective seriousness of an offence remains a broadly discretionary exercise that the CCA will be slow to disturb.
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