A sentencing judge's assessment that moral culpability is 'not significantly diminished' despite a disadvantaged background is a question of weight and degree that an appellate court will not readily disturb, provided the judge has balanced competing considerations. Where an offender with a mental disorder or abnormality acts with knowledge of the gravity of their actions, the moderation of general deterrence need not be great. An obvious slip in sentencing remarks (here, referring to the 'death' of the victim) will not vitiate the sentence where the context makes clear the judge's actual assessment.
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