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I’m not sure this is totally correct, for a couple of reasons.
1. In order to qualify for a 40% discount he would have to have entered a plea of guilty to manslaughter within 4 weeks of first appearance. He first appeared on 20 September 2018; intimated plea on 7 January 2020. https://twitter.com/seanfewster/status/1296616620870103040
1. In order to qualify for a 40% discount he would have to have entered a plea of guilty to manslaughter within 4 weeks of first appearance. He first appeared on 20 September 2018; intimated plea on 7 January 2020. https://twitter.com/seanfewster/status/1296616620870103040
If he first entered a plea immediately before being committed for trial (as appears to be the case) then it would seem most likely that a maximum discount of 20% applies.
2. The Opposition Bill contained no transitional provisions, so it is highly unlikely it would have been construed as applying to persons who had already been charged and pleaded guilty before it came into operation.
The Opposition evidently sees a great deal of political mileage in this (despite the fact that they are the ones who introduced the 40% discount scheme and kept it in place for years) so some fact checking of their claims is definitely called for here.
(Note: he might have offered to the prosecution to plead to manslaughter earlier than January 2020 — If that were the case then I’m not sure whether that qualifies him for the discount unless he actually pleads guilty, or notifies the court that he is prepared to do so.)
