A plea of guilty entered by an offender who understood the elements of the offence and made a free and voluntary decision to plead guilty in order to obtain the benefit of a reduced sentence for assistance to authorities does not occasion a miscarriage of justice, even where the sentence imposed was greater than the offender hoped or believed would be imposed. A starting point of 14-15 years for an extremely serious s.112(3) offence involving a sustained hammer attack to the head of a victim, committed by an offender on parole with a significant criminal history, was not excessive, and a resulting sentence of 9 years after a one-third discount for assistance to authorities was not manifestly excessive.
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