A solicitor who uses professional skills and position to further a criminal enterprise involving fabrication of evidence and deception of police and courts over an extended period commits offences of high objective seriousness. The fact that the solicitor's legal skills were inadequate or the scheme was unsuccessful does not mitigate the seriousness of the offence. Courts should proceed with caution in applying the parity principle where the same judge sentenced co-offenders, and the question is whether the differentiation was open in the exercise of the sentencing discretion.
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