On a Crown appeal, the adequacy of the existing total effective sentence does not provide a justification to refuse to intervene to correct a manifestly inadequate individual sentence; the proper process is to determine the appropriate individual sentence first and then assess the total effective sentence. The parity principle applies to co-offenders involved in the same criminal enterprise even where charged with different offences, though practical difficulties of comparison increase with the difference between charges. A sentence of 6 months for a serious attempt to pervert the course of justice committed while in custody, involving sustained efforts to procure retraction of witness statements through prison contacts, is manifestly inadequate. There remains an unresolved question about whether there is a tension between DPP v [name withheld] and [name withheld] v The Queen on the scope of appellate intervention where only an individual sentence is manifestly inadequate.
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