Where co-offenders plead guilty to different offences arising from the same facts, the parity principle still applies but the greater the difference in maximum penalties, the more difficult it is to establish unjustifiable disparity. The statutory aggravating factor of being 'in company' under s 21A(2)(e) can be applied to a principal offender who personally committed the actus reus, even where a co-offender's liability was based on joint criminal enterprise, because joint criminal enterprise is not the basis of the principal offender's liability.
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