A police officer's status is a relevant aggravating factor when sentencing for offences involving interference with the administration of justice, even where the offence was committed in a private capacity and not in the course of duty. The sentencing purpose of denunciation is entitled to greater weight in such cases. Encouraging an innocent person to plead guilty to an offence they did not commit is a significant form of perverting the course of justice that cannot be assessed as being of low objective gravity. Family-based motives do not significantly reduce the seriousness of perverting the course of justice compared with monetary motives.
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