A combined discount for guilty plea and assistance to authorities exceeding 50% should be reserved for exceptional cases. The application of one discount for one purpose will inevitably impact upon the extent to which another discount can be applied for a different purpose, because there is an irreducible minimum sentence below which a sentence cannot legitimately be set. An overall discount of more than 60%, however derived, will rarely if ever result in a sentence that is not manifestly inadequate. The component of a discount relating to future assistance should be specifically quantified.
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