Credit for Guilty Plea at PTPH

22 April 2020

Since the Sentencing Council updated the guideline on ‘Reduction in sentence for a guilty plea’ (effective from 1 June 2017), the importance of the plea indicated in the Magistrates’ Court has significantly increased for cases going up to the Crown Court.

Although the guideline is at pains to point out that it is designed to ‘encourage’ rather than ‘pressure’, that comes in the form of severely limited exceptions for when full credit (33%) will be available at anything other than the first appearance in the Magistrates’ Court.

Several years on from the introduction of the new guideline, this article looks at cases in the Court of Appeal where claims for full credit have been raised.

The full article can be read here.

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