The partial defence of substantial impairment under s 23A Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) may fail where the accused has not provided a reliable narrative of their thought processes leading to the killing, even where psychiatric experts opine that the accused's capacity to control themselves was substantially impaired, because the absence of such a narrative may deprive those opinions of a sufficient factual foundation. Deliberately self-inflicted injuries in murder-suicide cases do not constitute extra-curial punishment, even where the offender suffers from an abnormality of mind integrally related to both the offence and the self-infliction of injuries. General deterrence retains substantial weight in domestic violence sentencing notwithstanding the offender's mental health problems.
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