The defendant had not been informed of his right to be tried by a jury (on an either way offence) before he pleaded guilty in the magistrates’ court.
Held: The appeal succeeded. The guilty plea was bad.
Wright J discussed the argument that the defendant had waived his right: ‘As to the waiver which has been suggested, there cannot be a waiver of a right which the defendant does not know that he has. I doubt whether he could waive the right to be informed of his option to be tried by a jury if he knew that he had the option. I am inclined to think that, the duty to inform having been imposed upon the Court for the protection of all accused persons, the right to be informed could not be waived’
Judges:
Wright J
Citations:
[1898] 1 QB 582
Jurisdiction:
England and Wales
Cited by:
Cited – Regina v Kent Justices, Ex parte Machin 1952
The applicant had been charged before the justices with indictable offences. He consented to summary trial but it had not been explained to him that he might be committed to the Quarter Sessions for sentence.
Held: The court allowed . .
Cited – Westminster City Council v Owadally and Another Admn 17-May-2017
Defendant must plea to charge, and not counsel
The defendants had, through their barrister, entered pleas of guilty, but the crown court had declared the convictions invalid because this had to have been done by the defendants personally, and remitted the cases and the confiscation proceedings . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.583986
