Where a sentencing judge accepts that an offender's profoundly deprived background reduces moral culpability under the Bugmy principle, and also finds good prospects of rehabilitation, it is an error to give decisive weight to general deterrence and community protection without moderating those considerations in favour of rehabilitation. The combined effect of profound childhood deprivation and youth calls for the weight ordinarily given to deterrence and community protection to be moderated in favour of rehabilitation. A finding of reduced moral culpability that is not reflected in the sentence actually imposed constitutes a failure to take a relevant consideration into account.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 4 later cases that cite this judgment.
2 of the 4 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.