Williams (Gladstone) was a case heard in the English Court of Appeal in 1983 and established that a mistake of fact can be a successful defence regardless of whether the belief is reasonable or not.
The victim claimed to be a policeman, which was not true, and could not produce a warrant card when asked.
A fight followed, and the victim "sustained injuries to his face, loosened teeth and bleeding gums".
On appeal, Lord Lane gave the leading judgement and stated that: {{Quotation|The reasonableness or unreasonableness of the defendant's belief is material to the question of whether the belief was held by the defendant at all.
If the belief was in fact held, its unreasonableness, so far as guilt or innocence is concerned, is neither here nor there.