The practical effect of the parity principle is diminished where different charges are laid against co-offenders as a matter of prosecutorial discretion, or where offenders are sentenced on a different factual substratum. The fact that offending conduct was intercepted by police surveillance before it could run its intended course does not ameliorate the offender's criminality where moral culpability derives from what was done, planned and intended. An applicant is bound by counsel's consent to the tender of agreed facts at a sentence hearing, and it is generally undesirable for leave to appeal to be sought on grounds contrary to concessions made before the primary judge absent exceptional circumstances.
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