Magistrates Refuse Guilty Plea

Whenever a defendant appears before the court for the first time they are asked to enter (summary) or indicate (either-way) a plea.

Indictable offences are sent straight to the Crown Court without a plea being taken.

The defendant will usually be represented at the first hearing. Having discussed the options with their representative they usually have no difficulty in deciding whether to plead guilty or not guilty.

A defendant who pleads guilty is immediately convicted of the offence, which could obviously have long-term ramifications for them. It therefore follows that a guilty plea should never be entered/indicated unless the defendant is absolutely sure of that decision and its consequences. A guilty plea should never be entered/indicated simply for the sake of convenience.

Appearing recently before the court was a man accused of low value criminal damage and two assaults by beating. All of these are summary offences. He had discussed matters with his solicitor prior to the hearing and it was agreed, so the solicitor thought, that he was to admit all three offences.

The Legal Advisor put the matters to him. The replies came: "Guilty"; "Guilty"; "Not Guilty". Cue a very confused looking defence solicitor, who was adamant that guilty pleas had been agreed moments earlier.

Turning to face the defendant in the dock, the solicitor said: "I thought it was guilty to all three?"

Defendant: "Nah, I hadn't [inaudible as whisper mode activated", replied the defendant.

"Oh, go on then... guilty".

Presiding Justice: "Mr Brown, you said you were not guilty just a moment ago. Do you need more time to consider matters, or are you now sure?"

Defendant: "No, she has just told me to plead guilty".

At that point the three Magistrates rolled back slightly to get their heads together in a group huddle.

After a few moments of discussion, the Presiding Justice said: "We're not prepared to accept that plea as you seem rather uncertain, so we're going to ask for the matter to be laid down for trial".

With that the advocates were asked to complete the relevant PET form and a trial was listed.

The defendant was advised to have a good chat with his solicitor in the meantime.

In the event that the defendant decided to persist with his guilty plea, then the court would preserve his credit for an early guilty plea. A separate case management hearing could be listed for him to enter that guilty plea prior to trial.

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