Crime & Motor Offences

Police station advice, motor prosecution and criminal defence.

Being arrested, or receiving a summons, is frightening — and the decisions made in the first few hours often matter more than anything that happens afterwards.

Legal advice at the police station is free to everyone, whatever your income and whatever the allegation. There is no reason to be interviewed without a solicitor, and no adverse inference is drawn from asking for one.

We act in the magistrates and Crown Court, and in motor cases where a licence, a livelihood or a professional registration is at stake.

At the police station

We attend at any hour, take the disclosure the police are required to give, and advise you in private before any interview. That advice covers whether to answer questions, give a prepared statement, or say nothing — a judgement that depends entirely on what the police have disclosed. It costs you nothing.

Voluntary interviews

A voluntary interview is not a lesser thing. It carries the same evidential weight as one following arrest and can lead to the same charges. The setting is more informal; the consequences are not. You are entitled to free legal advice for these too.

Motor offences

Speeding, drink driving, careless and dangerous driving, and totting up. The procedural requirements in motor cases are detailed and are not always followed — calibration records, the timing of the notice of intended prosecution, and the station procedure are all capable of challenge where something has gone wrong.

When a ban is at stake

Exceptional hardship arguments can prevent a disqualification for accumulating twelve points, but they need proper preparation and evidence, and hardship to other people carries far more weight than inconvenience to you. It is generally a one-shot argument, which is why it is not a hearing to attend unprepared.

Free at the police station

Whatever your income, whatever the allegation.

Available day and night

Arrests do not keep office hours.

Records matter

Procedural errors in motor cases are more common than people expect.

How we can help

Careless and dangerous driving

Allegations ranging from a momentary lapse to serious charges carrying prison sentences.

Drink driving

Driving over the limit carries a minimum ban — but the procedure has to have been followed correctly.

Magistrates court

Representation for the offences that are heard in the magistrates court — where most cases begin and end.

Police station representation

Independent legal advice if you’re arrested or asked to attend a voluntary interview.

Speeding

From a fixed penalty to a court summons — and the licence consequences that follow.

Totting up and exceptional hardship

Facing a ban for accumulating twelve points — and the argument that can prevent it.

White collar crime

Fraud, dishonesty and regulatory allegations — often complex, document-heavy and career-threatening.

Common questions

Questions people ask us

Does legal advice at the police station really cost nothing?

Yes. It is free to everyone regardless of means and regardless of the allegation. Officers sometimes suggest that waiting for a solicitor will delay matters — that is not a good reason to be interviewed without one.

Will asking for a solicitor make me look guilty?

No. It is a fundamental right exercised routinely, and no court draws any inference from it. The people who do not ask are the ones who tend to regret it.

Should I just plead guilty and get it over with?

Not before someone has looked at the evidence. Early guilty pleas do attract a sentence reduction, but pleading to something the prosecution cannot actually prove is a decision that cannot be undone — and a conviction may need disclosing to employers for years afterwards.

Who you'll be working with

John Graham

Director

…

Lauren Darbyshire-Robert

Practice Manager

If you’re not sure who to speak to, speak to me first.

Not sure which of these fits?

Tell us what’s happened in your own words and we’ll point you to the right person.