Where an offender commits a serious violent offence while floridly psychotic due to schizophrenia, and the psychotic illness is causally connected to the offending, moral culpability is significantly reduced and the offender is an inappropriate vehicle for general deterrence, even where the offending is objectively very serious. A starting point of more than half the maximum penalty may be manifestly excessive in such circumstances. The question whether the Bugmy principles require a causal connection between childhood deprivation and offending remains unresolved.
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