less than fourteen years. New Zealand In New Zealand, offenders can be "convicted and discharged" (a criminal record is received but no other punishment) or "discharged without conviction" (no punishment and no criminal record). Defendants can be discharged without conviction even if they plead guilty to the alleged crime, usually in cases that the negative impacts of a conviction far outweigh the crime committed. For example, if a high-end businessman is caught in possession of a small quantity of marijuana, the small nature of the crime compared to the effects a conviction, without a sentence, would have may cause him to discharged without conviction. United Kingdom England and Wales In England and Wales, a conditional discharge is a sentence vitiating the finding of guilt in which the offender receives no punishment if in a period set by the court (not more than three years), no further offence is committed. If an offence is committed in that time, the offender may also be re-sentenced for the offence for which a conditional discharge was given. Pursuant section 14 of the Powers of Criminal Courts (Sentencing) Act 2000 and R v Patel [2006] EWCA Crim 2689 the conditional discharge does not constitute a conviction unless the individual breaches the conditional discharge and is resentenced. The end of the rehabilitation period under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 is the day when the conditional discharge order ends or immediately for an absolute discharge. Then, the offence is treated in law for most purposes (such as in court proceedings, employment, and insurance) as if the offender had not committed it. An absolute discharge is a lesser sentence imposed by a court in which no penalty is imposed at all. Exceptionally, however, a court occasionally grants an absolute discharge for a very serious offence when presented with extenuating circumstances (the signalman in the Thirsk rail crash, who was found guilty of manslaughter, is an example). That usually signifies that while a crime may technically have been committed, the imposition of any punishment would, in the opinion of the judge or magistrates, be inappropriate. In 2015, Hubert Chesshyre was found to have sexually abused a choirboy, but a stroke and the onset of dementia made the court find that he was deemed unfit to plead and he was granted an absolute discharge. An initial request in 2015 to have Chesshyre stripped of his honours was denied. In