The appellant had indicated early in the magistrates’ court an intention to plead guilty, he could not possibly have misunderstood the nature of a straightforward charge of burglary and he had unequivocally admitted guilt when the indictment was put to him. He appealed against refusal of the trial judge to allow him to withdraw his plea.
Held: The appeal failed. The court considered the applicable rules when a defendant wishes to withdraw a plea of guity. Lord Goddard, ruled that (i) up until sentence vacation of plea is a matter entirely within the discretion of the judge, but (ii) after sentence there is no power to permit it. One recent instance of a trial judge permitting a change of plea after sentence was wrong and ought not to be followed. A mistake or misunderstanding as to the nature of the charges against him would lead a trial court to allow a change of plea.
Lord Goddard LCJ said: ‘The question whether a plea may be withdrawn or not is entirely a matter for the trial judge. If the court came to the conclusion that there was a question of mistake or misunderstanding or that it would be desirable on any ground that the prisoner should be allowed to join issue, no doubt the court would allow him to do it. For example, it has been known for a prisoner charged with receiving stolen goods to acknowledge that he had received them, and to plead guilty adding ‘but I did not know that they were stolen’. In such a case, the trial judge might well allow the prisoner to change his plea but it is entirely within the discretion of the judge.’
Judges:
Lord Goddard LCJ
Citations:
[1954] 1 WLR 933, [1954] 2 All ER 372
Cited by:
Cited – Evans, Regina v CACD 16-Nov-2011
The defendant came to court, and his counsel informed the court of this, but then he left. Had he surrendered to his bail? He surrendered and was taken to court. He pleaded guilty to the Bail Act offence and was sentenced, but then was allowed to . .
Lists of cited by and citing cases may be incomplete.
Criminal Practice
Updated: 06 May 2022; Ref: scu.471544