A sentence of nine and a half years imprisonment for manslaughter arising from a stabbing during a fight, where the offender left a fistfight to retrieve a knife and returned, is within the sentencing discretion where the sentencing judge rejected the characterisation of a sustained or frenzied attack and had regard to mitigating factors including an offer to plead guilty not maintained at trial, admissions made, and voluntary surrender. The weight to be afforded to an offer to plead guilty where it is not acted upon at trial varies according to the circumstances of the case. A sentencing judge is not required to undertake an extensive analysis of SVO declaration discretionary considerations where the sole factual basis for the declaration has been rejected.
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