Where an offender suffers from severe physical disability such as tetraplegia, the punitive effect of imprisonment is greater, and the length of the term of immediate imprisonment required to meet punishment and retribution is correspondingly reduced. However, the disability does not provide a licence to offend, and the sentence must still reflect the criminality and its impact on the victim. The court accepted that the offending in this case would have warranted more than 10 years' imprisonment absent the disability, and upheld a total effective sentence of 8 years 3 months after reduction for the disability.
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