In cases of sustained domestic violence involving multiple offences over extended periods, the totality principle requires that the total effective sentence bear a proper relationship to overall criminality even where the offending is abhorrent; a total effective sentence of almost 12 years following pleas of guilty for 19 offences of domestic violence (including threats, assaults, strangulation and wounding) over three and a half years was manifestly excessive and was reduced to 9 years and 6 months. Defence submissions that seek to shift responsibility onto the victim of domestic violence may be characterised as offensive and may undermine claims of rehabilitation where made on the offender's instructions. An offender seeking a finding that imprisonment is more onerous due to mental health must adduce evidence going beyond a general statement that exposure to prison violence could exacerbate conditions.
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