A victim impact statement describing the effects of a principal offence is inadmissible in sentencing a person convicted of assisting the principal offender after the fact, unless the statement establishes a distinct harm caused by the assistance offence itself. The definition of 'victim' in s 3(1) of the Sentencing Act 1991 requires a direct causal connection between the specific offence being sentenced and the injury suffered; it is not sufficient that the victim was affected by the principal offence. A sentencing court cannot infer that assistance to a principal offender caused additional distinct harm to the victim's family without an evidentiary foundation for that inference.
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