The statutory analogue for a common law offence provides no more than a reference point and does not fetter the sentencing discretion, which remains at large. Where the common law offence covers a broader course of misconduct than any single statutory analogue, the absence of reference to statutory maximum penalties does not constitute sentencing error. The parity principle does not oblige a court to reduce a sentence to a level that would be otherwise inadequate merely because a co-offender charged with a less serious offence received a lighter sentence, where the differences in the nature, quality and extent of offending justify the disparity.
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