The margin between a head sentence of 2 years served by periodic detention and a head sentence of 4 years served by full-time custody for the same offence is unsustainable on parity grounds where the offenders' culpability is comparable. A sentencing judge who declines to find 'special circumstances' where credible evidence supports such a finding must give at least a brief explanation for the refusal. An erroneously lenient sentence on a co-offender does not automatically require reduction of the applicant's sentence.
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