Where an accused has made admissions in a police interview consistent with the definition of paedophilia, a prosecutor's reference to the accused as a 'paedophile' in closing address, while potentially unfortunate, may not warrant discharge of the jury where the prosecutor retracts the comment and the trial judge gives an appropriate direction. The greatest impact on the jury in such circumstances is likely to be from the accused's own admissions rather than the prosecutor's characterisation. An effective head sentence of 18 years imprisonment for serial sexual offending against multiple family members over approximately four decades, including rape of a child aged four, was not manifestly excessive.
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