Uncharged criminal conduct may be used in sentencing only to negate mitigating circumstances (such as that the offence was isolated or that the offender has good character), not to increase punishment for the charged offence. A plea of guilty carries very considerable weight in mitigation where a prior trial resulted in a hung jury and there was a real prospect of acquittal on retrial. A sentence of 12 years and 6 months' imprisonment for manslaughter by unlawful and dangerous act of a child, on a plea of guilty, was at the very high end of the permissible range and was not manifestly inadequate.
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