A discount for 'facilitation of justice' given for a guilty plea in a Commonwealth matter cannot simply be treated as equivalent to a utilitarian discount under Xiao v R, even where the quantum is the same. The two discounts are conceptually separate: the strength of the Crown case is relevant to the former but irrelevant to the latter. Such Xiao error vitiates the sentencing discretion and requires consideration of resentence. An appellate court may identify and act on Xiao error even where not raised by a self-represented applicant.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 25 later cases that cite this judgment.
8 of the 25 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.