Where an offender pleads guilty at the first opportunity to a lesser charge in circumstances where they could not reasonably have been expected to plead guilty to the original more serious charge, the plea should be treated as an early plea attracting a discount exceeding 10%. A sentencing judge who acknowledges entitlement to significant discounts for guilty plea, admissions and assistance but imposes a sentence at the top of the applicable guideline range will be found to have erred.
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