The asserted inadequacy of legal advice causing delay in entering a guilty plea is a circumstance surrounding the plea for the purposes of s 32A(3)(b) of the Criminal Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 (SA), but it cannot of itself constitute a special reason for setting the non-parole period below the mandatory minimum. The two-stage Hallcroft enquiry requires first determining the appropriate s 10C discount, then asking whether inability to give effect to that discount due to the mandatory minimum would result in a manifestly disproportionate sentence. Sentencing judges should state the starting point and discount when mandatory minimum non-parole periods and the Hallcroft principle are engaged.
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