A sentencing judge's merciful approach to drug trafficking sentences may be upheld on a Crown appeal where the offender's military service, PTSD, and strong rehabilitation prospects reasonably excite the judge's sympathies, even where the resulting sentence and non-parole period are acknowledged to be low. The absence of contemplated rehabilitative interventions during a suspended sentence bond, combined with the impact of mental illness on the offender's capacity to seek help, may constitute special circumstances justifying reduction of a revoked suspended sentence under s 58(4)(a) of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 (SA).
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