A conclusory expert opinion that an offender's mental health conditions would make imprisonment more onerous, without reasoning to support the conclusion, is insufficient to engage the fifth limb of R v Verdins on the balance of probabilities. Practitioners seeking to rely on the fifth limb must ensure expert evidence provides reasoning, not merely conclusions, as to how the offender's conditions make custody more burdensome.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 3 later cases that cite this judgment.