An offender's deprived background and impaired mental health, even where causally linked to offending, do not preclude the operation of s 21A(2)(d) of the Crimes (Sentencing Procedure) Act 1999 (NSW) treating criminal history as an aggravating factor. Moral culpability is not a component of objective seriousness; it is a separate subjective consideration that affects the weight given to sentencing factors such as general deterrence. Drug addiction formed in childhood will ordinarily be treated as a product of a dysfunctional upbringing rather than as a separate and distinct mitigating factor; it will be a rare case in which drug addiction standing alone can mitigate sentence.
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