A guilty plea may be set aside as a miscarriage of justice where the accused's psychological state — arising from anxiety disorder, panic, and cessation of psychotropic medication — goes beyond normal courtroom stress and substantially impairs the capacity to make a rational and free choice on how to plead, even where the accused understood the charge and consequences. The voluntariness of a guilty plea must be assessed by reference to the particular accused's age, background and psychological condition, not a hypothetical standard. The seriousness of the offence and mandatory nature of the sentence are relevant factors in assessing whether a miscarriage of justice has occurred.
The full text is available to signed-in members, including the 26 later cases that cite this judgment.
15 of the 26 citing cases carry a classified treatment. How each court treated it is available to signed-in members.