A sentencing judge's failure to have regard to the utilitarian value of a plea of guilty for a Commonwealth offence, in accordance with Xiao v R, constitutes appealable error even where the judge took into account the offender's facilitation of the course of justice. A plea of guilty entered five days before a scheduled trial, followed by an indication of a desire to traverse the plea, warrants a utilitarian discount of 10%. On resentencing, the court must take into account the offender's progress towards rehabilitation in the period since the original sentence.
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