HI, the context is what a good solicitor can present to the court, the quality of the effort put in by your rep, can make the difference between jail time or suspended sentence, exaggerated example, yes you beat him up!, but for 3 weeks before hand he was calling you names, spitting on you, hassling your wife, scratched or keyed your car, then you can also bring in diminished responsibility, exagerated example i was under the influence of drugs etc, then you can also bring in ethnic background, etc etc etc. pleading guilty brings good cheer from the court and is often rewarded with reduced penalty, how how early you plead has a good influence percentage wise with the court. if you dont want the hassle or cost, you can represent yourself, but i would strongly recomend writing it down and just hand up a copy to the judge, the prosecutor, it is easy to forget things in a court room surrounding. cheers best wishes