A sentencing judge who sentences on a factual basis inconsistent with the agreed facts, even where the language used is ambiguous, commits an appealable error where the erroneous basis is materially more serious than the correct basis. For low-level social supply of MDMA (two tablets to a friend in a nightclub), a starting point of five months' imprisonment (before guilty plea discount) is appropriate where the offending is not isolated and occurred in a prescribed place. The argument that recording a conviction will prejudice employment prospects may carry less weight than previously given modern employment disclosure practices.
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