Where an offender's unfitness to stand trial is caused by chronic mental illness (paranoid schizophrenia) rather than substance abuse, delay between offending and sentencing should be treated as a mitigating factor and not attributed to the offender's 'fault'. [name withheld] principles 5 and 6 may warrant significant moderation of sentence where expert evidence establishes that imprisonment would cause 'spectacular decompensation' in an offender with fragile mental health. Mercy remains available in fixing non-parole periods where the offender's tragic personal circumstances excite the court's sympathies.
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