Intending to plead guilty. You should take legal advice.

“Ignorance of the Law is no defence” but ignorance of the Law can sometimes result in Defendants pleading guilty when in fact they may have a defence to the charge they face.
Some potential defences are more obvious than others.
A Defendant charged with assault may be able to avoid a conviction even after striking someone else if they do so in self defence.
A Defendant charged with criminal damage may be able to avoid a conviction even after breaking something belonging to someone else if they do so accidentally (in other words if they did not cause the damage intentionally or “recklessly”). 
A Defendant charged with shop theft may be able to avoid a conviction even after leaving the store without paying for an item, for example if they did so because they were absentminded or confused (in other words if they did not act “dishonestly”).
But some defences, well known by lawyers, appear to be less well known by members of the public.
Recently we were consulted by a man who had been involved in a road traffic accident (which, as it happened, was not his fault).

A Police Officer who attended the scene checked on the computer database and discovered that the man was not insured to drive the vehicle.
The man subsequently received a summons alleging the offence of using a motor vehicle without insurance.
He believed he had no choice but to plead guilty.  Because of points previously imposed, a new conviction for using without insurance could have led to disqualification which in turn could have led to loss of employment. 
He consulted us to see if there was anything we could do.
We were able to advise him to plead not guilty on the basis of Section 143(3) of the Road Traffic Act 1988 because (in his case):
a) The vehicle did not belong to him (it belonged to his employers)
b) He was using the vehicle in the course of his employment
c) He did not know and had no reason to believe that he was not insured to use the vehicle (his employers having instructed him to do so)
Intending to plead guilty? Whatever the charge, take legal advice!