Serious Crime Bill [HL]

It is quite difficult for a lay person to follow the rather complicated argument that the noble Baroness has had to deploy on the amendments. As I read it, in deciding for the purposes of this Part whether a person facilitates the commission by another person of a serious offence, "““the court must ignore … any … aspect of his mental state””." That is a very strange thing to say. A mental state can be being agitated, having a headache, or being tired, like I am. After trooping through the Lobbies, my mental state is rather strange at the moment. It seems to me that there must be more clarity than that. My noble friend has asked whether the phrase appears in any other legislation. Whether it does or not, I do not think it says anything clear at all. As it is something that must be ignored, it surely must be made clearer.