Expert evidence that an offender's assessment of wrongfulness was 'most probably impaired' by a depressive disorder, coupled with polysubstance use, falls well short of establishing impaired mental functioning causally linked to the offence under s 5(2H)(c)(i) of the Sentencing Act 1991 where the causal connection to the offending is to physical ailments rather than mental illness. Drug addiction is not a mitigating factor unless a link between the addiction and the commission of the offences is established on the balance of probabilities.
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