Self-induced intoxication, while not generally mitigating, may reduce moral culpability in exceptional cases where the offender has a long history of alcohol dependency with no history of violence, such that the offending could not reasonably have been anticipated. Intoxication is relevant to the assessment of remorse (where the offender was genuinely shocked by conduct they could not recall), rehabilitation prospects (where sobriety makes rehabilitation achievable), and the degree of denunciation required. The offender bears a heavy onus to establish these exceptional circumstances.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 14 later cases that cite this judgment.
5 of the 14 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.