For a principal convicted of conspiracy to import the maximum trafficable quantity of ecstasy, the appropriate starting point for sentence is very close to or at the maximum penalty of 25 years' imprisonment. The parity principle requires that where co-offenders have substantially different levels of involvement in a conspiracy (one involved in all importations as organiser, the other only in an uncompleted importation), the difference in sentences must adequately reflect the difference in criminality. A discount for a plea of guilty entered at the last possible moment in circumstances where the prosecution case is very strong will be small, though the court must have regard to the forensic context including the withdrawal of other charges and periods without legal representation.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 10 later cases that cite this judgment.
1 of the 10 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.