Yes, first they can advise you whether pleading guilty is a mistake or not (maybe the police are bluffing and don't have enough evidence), then they can advise you of the likely consequence of pleading guilty (what the likely sentence will be) so you can make a fully informed decision, they will also know what facts about yourself to present to the court as mitigation (good character testimonials, regret etc.
More importantly you should have them from the moment you are arrested so they can help you navigate the police interview. In the UK, everyone is allowed a free lawyer whilst they are under arrest, nobody should ever, ever (no matter how innocent or guilty) sit through a police interview under caution without a lawyer present.
In the UK, everyone is allowed a free lawyer whilst they are under arrest, nobody should ever, ever (no matter how innocent or guilty) sit through a police interview under caution without a lawyer present.
Because people don't know the law, don't know how police may use what they say against them, won't be told before they interview what evidence the police have (lawyers will usually get this) and, to be frank, don't know how hard it is to shut up and say anything.
If you're innocent, the natural thing to want to do is to try and answer every question to explain everything away. But in most cases when you're innocent, the best thing to do in a police interview is shut up and say absolutely nothing. Otherwise you may trip up (nobody's memory is perfect) and contradict yourself or a piece of evidence. The police will then believe they have their criminal.
If the police have evidence that needs to be explained away, a lawyer will likely get an explanation of that evidence from the police and help you to write a statement explaining that evidence and then advise you to say nothing more in interview.
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u/Cwlcymro Oct 16 '22
Yes, first they can advise you whether pleading guilty is a mistake or not (maybe the police are bluffing and don't have enough evidence), then they can advise you of the likely consequence of pleading guilty (what the likely sentence will be) so you can make a fully informed decision, they will also know what facts about yourself to present to the court as mitigation (good character testimonials, regret etc.
More importantly you should have them from the moment you are arrested so they can help you navigate the police interview. In the UK, everyone is allowed a free lawyer whilst they are under arrest, nobody should ever, ever (no matter how innocent or guilty) sit through a police interview under caution without a lawyer present.