Where a serious violent offence declaration under Part 9A of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld) would otherwise prevent any credit being given for a guilty plea through a recommendation for early release, the appropriate method is to reduce the head sentence. A 20 per cent reduction for a late guilty plea is within range. The serious violent offence declaration may be maintained alongside the reduced head sentence to preserve proper relativity between the sentence that would have been imposed and the reduced sentence.
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