The onus of establishing a causal link between a personality disorder and offending under the Verdins principles rests squarely upon the defence. Where psychiatric evidence is ambivalent as to whether conduct is attributable to personality disorder or to substance use and intoxication, the sentencing judge is entitled to find that the causal connection has not been established. A sentence of life imprisonment with a 33-year non-parole period is within range for the murder of a young child by a parent in circumstances of extreme cruelty and premeditation.
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