The power under s 7(4) of the Criminal Appeal Act 1912 (NSW) is not limited to cases where error is established; the Court independently assesses the evidence to determine whether the appellant was mentally ill. However, the exercise is subject to a principle of appellate restraint, which is of lesser importance where the Court views the same evidence in the same form as the trial judge. Apparently rational and calculated behaviour surrounding the physical elements of an offence does not necessarily negate the mental illness defence where such behaviour is closely related to the accused's paranoid delusions and the unanimous psychiatric evidence supports the defence.
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