The relative physical strengths of offenders and victims may be taken into account in assessing objective seriousness of domestic violence offences, notwithstanding that matters personal to the offender cannot be. Sentencing statistics are particularly inapposite where a Form 1 charge has been taken into account in the sentence for the index offence. Individualised justice does not require sentencing judges to ignore recurring patterns of domestic violence behaviour.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 10 later cases that cite this judgment.
4 of the 10 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.