As he neared his ruling, Gullick explained the bind Gibson had put him in: “were I to pass a substantial prison sentence upon you, which would be wholly merited by the value if not pricelessness of the items that you stole, no doubt on one view, the public would commend me, and on another view the Court of Appeal in my judgment would severely criticise me in the light of the attitude which they display in the case of Gibson as to the appropriate course that trial Judges should take when faced with somebody suffering from this syndrome.”
