Where the power under s 7(4) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) is raised, it is not necessary for the Court to first determine whether the verdicts are unreasonable under s 6(1). Where psychiatric evidence is unanimous and unchallenged that the defence of mental illness is established, the Court will exercise the s 7(4) power to substitute a verdict of not guilty on grounds of mental illness. Personal deterrence warrants significantly more than little weight where an offender's mental illness is exacerbated by substance abuse and compliance with medication and abstention from substances in the community remains untested.
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