Can a plea of guilty be withdrawn at trial?

It is clearly within the jurisdiction of a trial judge to allow a plea of guilty to be withdrawn at trial. Normally, a judge will ensure that the accused person understands the consequences of the plea of guilty before it is accepted and a conviction entered. If, however, following the conviction and in the course of the proceedings, it becomes apparent to the judge that the accused does not admit some essential ingredient of the offence or is under a misapprehension as to the effect of his guilty plea, then the judge should exercise his discretion and either offer the accused an opportunity to withdraw the guilty plea or direct that a plea of not guilty be entered, (see Adgey v. R. (1973), 1973 CanLII 37 (SCC), 39 D.L.R.(3d) 553 (S.C.C), per Dickson, J., at p. 565).