A sentence more than double that of co-offenders convicted of the same drug trafficking offence may infringe the parity principle even where the appellant was the principal offender acting for commercial gain, if the extent of the disparity is not rationally explained by the differences in culpability and personal circumstances, particularly where the appellant received a guilty plea discount not available to co-offenders convicted after trial. The increase in maximum penalty for methylamphetamine trafficking from 25 years to life imprisonment under the 2017 amendments is an indication that sentences for that offence should be increased.
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