The fact that an unlawful assault was perpetrated by a police officer in the performance of duties is a circumstance which greatly elevates the criminality of the conduct and calls for condign punishment emphasising general deterrence and denunciation. However, the absence of prior criminal history carries reduced mitigating weight for police officers, as they would generally be expected to have no criminal history. Principles against double jeopardy remain a significant constraint on Crown sentence appeals where the sentence falls within the range sought by the prosecution at first instance.
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