Tick Tock... Get Your Plea In Early!

In yet more sentencing news, the Sentencing Council has published a new Definitive Guideline dealing with the reduction in sentence for a guilty plea. With an average of 95% of health and safety prosecutions resulting in conviction, entering a guilty plea looms large for the majority of defendants. So what does this new Guideline mean in practice and how can it potentially benefit those prosecuted?

The Guideline

Defendants pleading guilty at the earliest opportunity have long been afforded "credit" (i.e. a discount) of one third upon the sentence the Court would otherwise have imposed. However, inconsistency in application led to a need for clarification and a fresh impetus to influence offender behaviour.