Where a sentencing judge announces a quantified discount on sentence for a guilty plea, that discount must be arithmetically applied to the starting point; failure to do so constitutes error even where the gravity of the offence would have justified imposing the maximum penalty without any discount. It is normally inappropriate to place a more serious offence on a s 16BA schedule to a less serious principal offence. A finding of reduced moral culpability by reason of mental illness does not automatically require a reduction in sentence; the sentencing court must examine whether, in the specific case, the mental condition has the ameliorating consequence contended for.
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