A guilty plea entered during the currency of the COVID-19 pandemic is, all other things being equal, worthy of greater weight in mitigation than a similar plea entered at a time when the community and the courts are not afflicted by the pandemic's effects, and should ordinarily attract a more pronounced amelioration of sentence. Although a sentencing judge need not quantify the extent of any discount, the plea must result in a perceptible amelioration of sentence. The augmented discount applies whilst the courts continue to labour under the adverse effects of the pandemic.
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