The Verdins sentencing considerations cannot be engaged without specific expert evidence about the nature of the impairment, how it affected the offender at the time of offending, and/or how it affects the offender at sentence or in the future. The applicability of Verdins is a matter for the sentencing court, not for expert witnesses, and forensic psychologists should not express opinions on whether Verdins principles are engaged. Defence counsel has a professional responsibility to assess whether the evidence meets the rigorous Verdins standards before advancing such an argument. An argument deliberately abandoned at the plea hearing cannot ordinarily be raised for the first time on appeal.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 16 later cases that cite this judgment.
5 of the 16 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.