FAQs

Call Stryders’ specialist team on 0333 344 2546 immediately if you have been accused, arrested, suspect a criminal allegation has been made against you, or are going to court. We are available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days of a year. No matter what the situation, you will be able to speak to a solicitor who can help you.

Yes, you are entitled to free legal representation at a police station at any time of the day or night, irrespective of your financial circumstances. However, if it’s just a minor offence, you may only be entitled to free legal advice from the Police Station Telephone Advice Service. The police officer in your case will tell you if this is the case in your situation.

There are some other limitations to be aware of too. Once you have used a solicitor for a particular alleged offence, you cannot change to a different solicitor under the Legal Aid scheme unless there is a very good reason. You would have to pay for the new solicitor’s attendance at the police station. So, make sure you have the solicitor you want from the first opportunity.

It’s important to think carefully. Asking for a duty solicitor is a lottery and you will not know if their firm has the specialist knowledge you may need in your specific case at your initial interview and beyond. Asking for Stryders Law by name means you will always have access to a criminal defence firm with specialist expertise and experience in your situation, and we follow up with the police after your interview on your behalf after the interview as part of our service. Not all duty solicitors do this.

Everyone is entitled to free legal representation at a police station with the solicitor of their choice, irrespective of their financial means, as explained in the answers above.

However, if your case continues beyond that interview you may have to pay for ongoing legal advice unless you qualify for legal aid. This will depend on your personal income, savings and other capital and whether your case passes the interests of justice test. You may be entitled to getting all your legal costs paid, or just some of them, or none at all.

Sometimes, even if your income is high, if your case is considered to be ‘in the interests of justice’, you may be entitled to some support. The Government’s free Legal Aid Calculator can give you an idea. We always consider the options for legal aid if you employ us to represent you. We can give you some information to help you use the calculator and help you make a legal aid application if it applies to you.

Every case, every magistrate and every judge is unique so it’s impossible to say exactly what sentence you might receive. But we can often get an idea of the range of possibilities by looking at the sentencing guidelines for the offence you have been charged with.

For some offences, there are mandatory minimum sentences. This means that the court must give you that sentence if you plead or are found guilty. For instance, if you are convicted of drink-driving you will be banned from driving for at least 12 months, because that is the minimum sentence available to the court.

We will discuss in detail with you the type of sentence that you are likely to receive if you are found guilty of an offence.

For most cases, within the range available to the courts, we will always try to get you the most lenient sentence possible if you are found guilty.

There are certain things the court will consider, such as the type, seriousness and circumstances of the crime as well as the age and criminal record of the offender. Circumstances which aggravate the crime (make it more serious) will probably increase the potential sentence. For example, burgling someone’s house while they are still in it is considered worse than burgling an empty property. For most cases, within the range available to the courts, we will always try to get you the most lenient sentence possible if you are found guilty.

As your defence lawyer, we work hard with you to find reasons which lessen the seriousness of the crime (mitigating circumstances) and encourage the court to choose a lighter sentence. This could be problems in your personal life that have affected your behaviour or the fact that you show remorse, are willing to change or pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity.

You can often find the guidelines judges and magistrates use when deciding what sentences to give online. These include guidelines from the Court of Appeal and the Sentencing Council.

The job of the jury is to decide on the facts of the case. In other words, whether a defendant is guilty or not guilty of the offence they’re charged with. They don’t argue on points of law and they don’t decide the sentence. Juries are only used when there is trial in a serious case at a crown court. There is no jury at a magistrates’ court or if you plead guilty.

At the beginning of the trial there must be 12 jurors and at least 9 should still be present when the case has concluded. The court requires all jurors to reach the same conclusion ‘beyond reasonable doubt’. That means they must either all find you guilty, or all find you not guilty. This is called a unanimous verdict. If, despite their best efforts, the jury cannot agree on a verdict the judge can accept a majority decision of 11-1, 10-2, 10-1 and 9-1. If fewer than nine jurors agree, the verdict will be inconclusive. This is called a hung jury and the trial may need to re-run with a completely new set of jurors.