Schedule 3 - Hunting With Dogs: Prohibition
Hunting Bill
5:15 pm
Mr Mike O'Brien (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Home Office; North Warwickshire, Labour)
There are a number of issues that I have not yet dealt with, but I shall do so.
The hon. Member for Montgomeryshire (Mr. Öpik) raised a number of points. He asked about people who may plead guilty because they do not have the resources to fight a case. That is not a reason to fail to create an offence. If there were a potential mischief, we would consider legal aid issues. It is possible to imagine a defendant pleading guilty for all sorts of reasons. Is that just? No. Does it happen? Yes. I have been aware of people whom I suspected had not committed offences, but may have wanted to get the matter over and done with, so pleaded guilty. I may suspect that, but as long as a defendant does not tell me so, I can represent him as a lawyer. Is that more likely to happen under these provisions than any others? There is no reason to believe that it would.