Discounts for plea of guilty and assistance to authorities exceeding 40% should very exceptionally be granted absent evidence that the offender will serve the sentence in more onerous conditions than the general prison population. An offender who wishes to assert that imprisonment will be more onerous by reason of assistance must lead evidence of that fact. A prior conviction for a similar drug importation offence is a significant factor demonstrating a continuing attitude of disobedience to the law under Veen (No 2), and a sentencing judge errs in declining to treat it as such. The court is not bound by the Crown's characterisation of relative roles of co-offenders in earlier proceedings.
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