Reply #8: OK, I asked my dad and he gave me the answer.....

[Pert_UK]

It's pretty much exactly what Iverglas said, only briefer (no offense!).

It hadn't really occurred to me, but here's how it goes....

You're in prison for 6 years for a crime. You have served 3 years. You try to bribe someone to persuade them to let you out early. You are found guilty of bribery and sentenced to 4 years time, to run concurrently with your existing sentence.

Now, here's what I hadn't picked up.......The 4 years doesn't start from when you first went to prison, it starts on the date of sentencing. In other words, you've served 3 years of a 6 year sentence, and have 3 left, but this new 4 year concurrent sentence means that you have to serve another 4 years from now, and thus spend 7 years in prison.

The bribery wasn't serious enough to merit 4 years detention, but it was serious enough to add an extra year onto your 6 year sentence.

I had kind of pictured the concurrent sentence being wholly swallowed in your initial sentence time, but obviously it starts from the date of sentencing, not from the date of incarceration on the original charge.

I thank you.