Criminal Law

Specialist legal advice when you need it.

When you need representation in the criminal courts or at the police station, Hurleys Solicitors’ team of criminal law experts are on hand around the clock.
Our expert lawyers have experience in all areas of criminal law whether you, a family member, friend or colleague need representation, our friendly team is ready and is available to attend at the police station, free of charge – 24 hours a day, 365 days of the year. We can also attend Benefit Fraud interviews subject to financial eligibility.
We can also act for you in cases before the Magistrates Court and Crown Court in relation to all offences including:
  • Violent offences
  • Sexual offences
  • Drug offences
  • Organised crime
  • White collar crime
  • Benefit fraud
  • Motoring offences
  • Local authority prosecutions
We also instruct Barristers (known as Counsel) from Chambers in Bournemouth, Winchester and London if your case is heard in the Crown Court to ensure that you are given the best representation. We always endeavour to use our experience to select the most appropriate Counsel for you and your case.
With over 60 years combined experience between our lawyers we have successfully defended in some of the most serious of cases.
We appreciate that attending either a Police Station or a court can be a frightening and daunting experience for many people. That is why we try to ensure that our clients understand the issues relating to their case. We do our best not to talk in “legal jargon” and we put quality service at the top of our priorities.
Hurleys Solicitors Ltd hold a contract with the Legal Aid Agency to provide specialist advice and representation in respect of criminal allegations. In order to hold this contract we are subject to independent audits from the Legal Aid Agency to ensure the quality of our work. Our contract with the Legal Aid Agency means that we can represent you free of charge in some cases under the scheme. We represent clients both locally and nationally.
For motoring offences such as speeding and drink driving Hurleys can offer a fixed fee service, ensuring you know your legal costs up front.

Instruct us for Agency work

We have two Solicitor Advocates at our office which enables us to act as Agents for other Firms of Solicitors in the Magistrates Court as well as attending Police Stations. Please email crime@hurleyssolicitors.co.uk or call 01202 436100.

Meet the Team:

David Hurley
David Hurley
Head of Criminal Department
01202 436100
Kevin Bourne
Kevin Bourne
Litigation Executive
01202 436100
Laura McQueen
Litigation Executive
01202 436100
Lauren Vervliet
Secetary
01202 436100
 

Road Traffic Offences

Our fees to provide advice and representation at the Magistrates Court in relation to summary only road traffic offences dealt with at a single hearing.
For cases of this nature, it is generally our policy to agree a fixed fee in advance of the hearing as we are aware that this provides our clients with more certainty than if we were to charge at an hourly rate. We have an experienced solicitor at the firm to deal with these matters on a regular basis before the courts – David Hurley is the senior partner of the firm and has over 40 years’ experience before the Magistrates Courts.
Our fee for such cases would be £495 plus VAT (£594 total price) if your case is heard at Poole Magistrates Court. If your case was heard at an alternative court, we would provide you with confirmation of the fee in advance of the hearing as this would be dependent on the location and complexity of the case. The fee should not exceed £1000 plus VAT (£1200 total price).
Our fee would include:
 
  • Obtaining and reviewing the case papers in advance of the hearing
  • Taking your instructions
  • Attendance at a single hearing at the Magistrates Court
  • Advising on the evidence, plea and likely sentence
  • Providing general advice concerning appeal
  • Our travel disbursements and any VAT on such disbursements. If your case was heard at Poole Magistrates Court, our disbursement for mileage would be £9.00 plus VAT (£10.80 total disbursement) and our parking fee would be no more than £10.00, dependent on the length of the court attendance. No VAT would be charged on parking fees. If your case was heard at an alternative court, we would provide you with confirmation of our disbursements in advance of the hearing as this would be dependent on the location of the hearing.
The fee would not include the following:
 
  • Instructing expert witnesses
  • Taking statements from potential defence witnesses
  • Representation at any Special Reasons or Exceptional Hardship hearings 
Your case before the court is likely to proceed in the following key stages:
 
  • Initial conversation with solicitor to discuss the case and court procedure
  • Consideration of initial prosecution papers
  • Attendance at court for the hearing – unfortunately it is not possible to provide an estimate as how long this will take on the day of the hearing as this is dependent on the court listings although we would hope the hearing would be dealt with within half a day
  • When at court:
    1. Advice regarding the offence, the strength of the evidence and the likely sentence
    2. Take full instructions and advise on plea prior to the hearing
    3. Representation during the hearing
    4. Consultation after the hearing to advise regarding sentence, any grounds to appeal and next steps
If you have any questions about our fees, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Our complaints handling policy

We are committed to providing a high-quality legal service to all our clients. When something goes wrong, we need you to tell us about it. This will help us to improve our standards.
If you have a complaint, please contact us with the details. We have eight weeks to consider your complaint. If we have not resolved it within this time you may complain to the Legal Ombudsman.
What will happen next?
  1. We will send you a letter acknowledging receipt of your complaint within three working days of receiving it, enclosing a copy of this procedure.
  2. We will then investigate your complaint. This will normally involve passing your complaint to our client care partner, David Hurley, who will review your matter file and speak to the member of staff who acted for you.
  3. David Hurley will then either telephone you or write to you and hopefully resolve your complaint. He will do this within 14 days of sending you the acknowledgement letter.
  4. Within three working days of the resolution of your complaint (if that has been achieved) David Hurley will write to you to confirm any solutions he has agreed with you.


What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint

The Legal Ombudsman can help you if we are unable to resolve your complaint ourselves. They will look at your complaint independently and it will not affect how we handle your case.

Before accepting a complaint for investigation, the Legal Ombudsman will check that you have tried to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you must take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:
 
  • Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint
and
 
  • Within one year from the date of act/omission; or
  • Within one year of you realising there was a concern
If you would like more information about the Legal Ombudsman, please contact them.

Contact details

Visit: www.legalombudsman.org.uk

Call: 0300 555 0333 between 9.00 to 17.00.

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Post: Legal Ombudsman, PO Box 6167, Slough SL1 0EH
 

What to do if you are unhappy with our behaviour

The Solicitors Regulation Authority can help if you are concerned about our behaviour. This could be for things like dishonesty, taking or losing your money or treating you unfairly because of your age, a disability or other characteristic.

Visit their website to see how you can raise your concerns with the Solicitors Regulation Authority.