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“If you have a person who has been before the Court a number of times, e.g. for drunk driving, or
no insurance or public order or say assault or something like that, and if I felt that in the
circumstances, say for arguments sake that there was a plea of guilty in the matter, and factoring all
the factors that are generally put up in those particular circumstances, I would possibly consider a
suspended sentence as an appropriate order and deterrent before I might consider a
sentence.”A6J1DC.
“Of course you do start off on the basis that he is entitled to a discount because he has pleaded
guilty. For example he certainlyis saving the Court this time but certainlyhe is saving considerable
expense…it is a serious offence, whatever he has pleaded to; suspended sentence is rarely used
when the Jurymakes a finding. Rarelyused- suspendedsentences simpliciter.”A3J1CC
“Of course the plea of guilty puts it in a different grade in terms of sentence. That is one of the
factors that must be considered so that if he was just about to get a full sentence after a full hearing,
but instead pleaded guilty, then I think I might just make it into the lower category. It just might be
the swinger…if it were a case with a lot of witnesses andsome perhaps reluctant witnesses anda
whole lot of circumstances that would make it, perhaps more difficult to prove a plea of guilty in
those circumstances could, for me, definitelytip it awayfrom a full sentence…equallyif he is caught
red-handed, where pleading guilty makes no difference; where he is going down in a way, there is
no defence to it, then the discount he will get from me will be much less.”A4J1DC
Other judges regarded an early plea of guilty to mitigate the actual term of imprisonment
without suspension thus:
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“A lighter termof the same sentence.”A4J1DC
“I think an early plea of guilty, on the authorities is the biggest mitigating factor there could be and
furthermore it is one that is binding on every sentencing court. You have to pay attention to it. In
recent times, there has been authority for the proposition that you can impose the maximum
sentence even though there has been an earlyplea. You don’t have to reduce the sentence but the
offences in question in those cases including the ones which have been in front of the Court of
Criminal Appeal were of the most aggravated and the most alarming kind. In the ordinary case or
anything resembling an ordinary case, it is the largest factor. I personally wouldn’t tend to reflect it
bypart suspension. I tend to reflect it bya reduction in the tariff. I have been veryimpressed also
by the statement by the English Court of Appeal which is quoted in O’Malley’s book. He says
because there must be a jail sentence does not necessarily mean that it must be a long one and he
says that particularly with regard to first offenders. Of course if you took O’Malley literally on first
offenders, it would be very hard ever to imprison anyone I think there is a great deal to be said
for that. I also think that in an urban environment, particularly you are very conscious of the fact