Hawkins Solicitors,
19 Tuesday Market Place,
King’s Lynn,
Norfolk,
PE30 1JW.
DX:
57803 King’s Lynn
Telephone:
01553 691661
Fax:
01553 691779
Crimeline:
07786668836
Email:
enquiries@hawkins-
solicitors.com
Hawkins Solicitors,
Unit 2,
St Nicholas' Court,
Dersingham,
Norfolk,
PE31 6GZ.
DX:
57803 King’s Lynn
Telephone:
01485 501586
Fax:
01553 691779
Crimeline:
07786668836
Email:
enquiries@hawkins-
solicitors.com
19 Tuesday Market Place,
King’s Lynn,
Norfolk,
PE30 1JW.
DX:
57803 King’s Lynn
Telephone:
01553 691661
Fax:
01553 691779
Crimeline:
07786668836
Email:
enquiries@hawkins-
solicitors.com
Hawkins Solicitors,
Unit 2,
St Nicholas' Court,
Dersingham,
Norfolk,
PE31 6GZ.
DX:
57803 King’s Lynn
Telephone:
01485 501586
Fax:
01553 691779
Crimeline:
07786668836
Email:
enquiries@hawkins-
solicitors.com
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FAQs on crime |
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You have the right to have someone informed that you have been arrested, and to speak to a solicitor of your choice, or to a duty solicitor. This is always a sound decision: the solicitor will give you expert, independent advice in complete confidence.
Your words and actions during the police investigation can make the difference between being charged or released, and being granted or refused bail. This is why you need a solicitor's help. He will be familiar with police procedures, and will protect your rights. He will also evaluate the strength of the case against you, and advise on how you should answer police questions, and whether you should agree to provide samples or take part in identification procedures.
Silence is no longer the safest policy. If you fail to give police the facts of your defence at the interview stage, the court may take your silence into consideration, and be less likely to believe your explanation in court. In other words, silence may actually increase your risk of conviction.
If you are under arrest, or so-operating voluntarily in a police investigation, legal advice will be provided free of charge, no matter how much or how little you earn.
If your case is serious enough, you may qualify for legal aid to pay the costs of your defence. However, your income and outgoings will be taken into account, and the court will decide.
If you get legal aid, you will not have to pay your own defence costs, unless you are convicted in the Crown Court, where the judge may order you to pay all or part of those costs. The eligibility rules change from time to time, so it's best to contact us about your own case, or visit legalservices.gov.uk, the website of the Legal Services Commission.
Straightforward cases can usually be dealt with on a fixed fee basis. These will include many road traffic cases, where your first priority will be to keep your licence.
More complex cases are charged at a fixed rate per hour, and will obviously vary with the length and complexity of the case. Either way, remember that if you win your case, the court will usually order that all or part of your costs should be repaid.
First, you will report to the Usher. You will be asked if you have a solicitor, and if not, you may be offered the services of the duty solicitor. Your solicitor will explain to you what will happen in court, and review with you the summary of the evidence.
In court, you will be asked to confirm your name, address and date of birth. If the case is ready to proceed, you will be asked whether you wish to plead guilty or not guilty.
If you plead guilty, the Crown Prosecutor will outline the facts to the Magistrates, detail any relevant previous convictions, and make any application for costs or compensation. You will then have the opportunity to speak for yourself or through your solicitor. Finally, the Magistrates will announce the sentence in open court, unless the case is too serious for them to deal with, in which case you will be committed for sentence to the Crown Court at a later date. The Magistrates may also defer sentencing until they receive a written report from the Probation Service.
It depends on how serious your case is. Really serious cases can only be tried before a judge and jury in the Crown Court. In such cases, you will not be asked to enter a plea - the Magistrates will send the case straight to the Crown Court, which is where you will next appear.
A large number of less serious cases may be dealt with by either the Magistrates' Court or the Crown Court: if the court does not decide for you, then the choice is yours.
All other cases are dealt with by the Magistrates' Court. After you plead not guilty, the court may fix a trial date straight away. In most cases, however, you will be ordered to return to court at a later date, to fix a trial date to suit the witnesses. You may be asked to explain where you take issue with the prosecution case, and you will usually be given copies of prosecution witness statements – though you will not be entitled to see all the information on the prosecution file.
It depends on your plea, the seriousness of the offence, and whether you are on bail or in custody. If you plead guilty to a minor offence, for example, the case will probably be settled on your first appearance at the Magistrates' Court. A not guilty plea in the Magistrates' Court may take 3 to 6 months from charge to trial, and involve 2 or 3 court appearances. A not guilty plea in a Crown Court case may extend the timescale to 5-8 months, or even longer in the most serious cases.
In some circumstance, no. Certain offences, most commonly drink driving, will incur an automatic ban. Under the "totting-up" system, the court may also impose a ban if you get 12 points or more on your licence within a 3-year period. Here, however, there is some flexibility built into the system, and with vast experience of this kind of case, we are well placed to advise and represent you. Legal aid is rarely available for this kind of case, but we can usually quote a fixed fee which compares favourably with the cost and inconvenience of losing your licence.
Yes, but it may not be wise. The duty solicitor's services are free of charge, but you cannot choose who will deal with your case, and he can only represent you on the one occasion. He may also not be able to offer advice on all aspects of your case. Ideally, the preparation of your defence should begin well before the first hearing, and your chances of acquittal will be greatly increased by instructing a solicitor in advance. Remember, too, that many such cases will qualify for legal aid - we will be happy to advise you.
Generally, justice in this country is dispensed in open court, which means open to anyone, including the press. There are some exceptions, however. Special rules apply, for example, if you are under 18, and the court is also allowed to impose reporting restrictions to protect the identities of child victims, or in circumstances where reporting would actually interfere with the administration of justice. Avoiding embarrassment for the defendant, however, is not enough.
It certainly could be! The court can only deal with the breach by making the original order more demanding, or by resentencing you for the original offence. If the court feels that the breach has been wilful and persistent, this could mean a prison sentence, even if you could not have been sent to prison for the original offence. That's why it's important to take legal advice, even if you feel that the breach was not your fault.
You can appeal to the Crown Court against a decision made in the Magistrates' Court. Your notice of appeal must be sent to the court and the Prosecution within 21 days of sentence. If you pleaded not guilty, you may appeal against your conviction, and in any case you may appeal against your sentence - though remember that the Crown Court Judge who hears the appeal has the power to vary the sentence upwards as well as downwards. As always, the best advice is to consult your solicitor first.
If you are unhappy with a decision of the Crown Court, you may appeal to the Court of Appeal, within a time limit of 28 days. A single judge will first decide if your appeal has enough merit to proceed. You may only appeal against conviction if there was some relevant mistake by the judge or a misdirection to the jury, and against your sentence if it was clearly excessive or wrong in principle.
