An unaccepted pre-trial offer to plead guilty to alternative offences may warrant a reduction in sentence if those are the offences of which the accused is ultimately convicted, but the offer must be an actual offer — not a sounding out or invitation to treat — and must be expressed in clear terms, preferably in writing. Post-offer conduct at trial that is inconsistent with the terms of the offer will markedly limit or eliminate its mitigatory value. For s 33F offences involving cannabis supply to children, the legislative purpose of protecting children from drug supply means that factors such as the child's existing drug use, parental awareness, and the nature of cannabis as a less harmful drug lose much of their mitigatory significance.
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