Criminal Defence

Bowden Jones Solicitors has an experienced team of Criminal Litigators and Higher Court Advocates with a vast experience across a broad range of Criminal Law matters ranging from minor road traffic offences through to large scale international drug conspiracies. Our team specialise in all areas of Criminal Defence work including the representation of white collar and corporate clients and have substantial experience in dealing with the defence of professionals accused of a variety of offences including neglect at care homes, child neglect, child pornography and misfeasance in public office including public officials and law enforcement officers.

Bowden Jones Solicitors has been awarded a Criminal Franchise by the Legal Aid Agency which enables us to undertake all aspects of Legal Aid work in addition to our ability to represent our private and corporate clients. We also have considerable experience in dealing with all Prison Law matters.

Such is the wealth of expertise and knowledge of Criminal Defence Solicitors work, Bowden Jones is one of a short list of elite legal firms who are members of the Legal Aid Agency’s ‘Very High Cost Case Panel’ and who are able to deal with only the most serious and complex of cases.

Our excellent reputation and success in dealing with all Criminal Matters, including serious crime and appeal is largely due to the wealth of technical legal knowledge, experience and professionalism of the Criminal Law Team. Since the firm was founded in 2003, the Criminal Law Team has been led by Stephen Jones and Huw Bowden, both renowned as two of the Country’s leading Criminal Law experts.

Bowden Jones offers a competitive fixed price service, for hearings in the Magistrates Courts and Crown Courts. To discuss this further please do not hesitate to contact us. Bowden Jones offers a fee of £250 plus VAT for any half day single hearing cases in the Magistrates Court and £500 plus VAT for full day hearings.

Pricing of Summary Only Road Traffic Offences

With regard to motoring offences, we feel that most clients much prefer a fixed fee structure of pricing. We are therefore able to provide you with some examples of the fixed fees charged for more routine work.

Every matter is different, and some may not fit directly into the examples below. If this is the case, please do not hesitate to get in touch. We will gladly sit down with you and discuss what work is required and the likely cost.

Speeding offences / Drug/Drink Driving / Driving with no licence and insurance

These offences can often lead to a sentence which involves a potential disqualification from driving. We charge £250 plus VAT for all half day hearings and £500 plus VAT for all full day hearings. In relation to all speeding offences, we quote £250 plus VAT which includes an initial attendance on you and the conduct of a single hearing in the Magistrates Court, whether this be a half day or single day.

In some circumstances there may be an argument of either special reasons or exceptional hardship, which can be advanced to avoid a disqualification from driving. The fixed fee does not include this argument, but we would be more than willing to quote a fee, this would be dependent on the work required to prepare for the hearing, such as interviewing witnesses, instructing expert witnesses and visits to the scene.

The following key stages of your matter are based on the presumption that you will be entering a guilty plea and have a date for your hearing

• Meet with one of our solicitors to provide instructions on what happened.
• We will obtain and consider the initial disclosure plus any other evidence required.
• Arrange to take witness statements if necessary (additional cost of £100 per statement at our office. Statements taken outside our office will incur additional costs).
• We will explain the court procedure so that you know what to expect on the day of your hearing and the sentencing options available to the court.
• We will conduct any further preparatory work, obtain further instructions from you if necessary and answer any follow up questions you may have.
• We will attend court on the day of your hearing and meet with you before going into court. Most matters are dealt with in half a day.
• We will discuss the outcome with you. If advice on appeal is required this will carry an additional cost.

There will be occasions when a case cannot be resolved at the first hearing. This might be because the case needs to be adjourned for legal argument on sentencing or for a Trial. In which case your availability will be consulted, and that adjournment should not be more than 28 days after the first hearing. Occasionally cases cannot proceed and are adjourned administratively, when this applies, we will not charge a fee for a hearing, the charge would only apply for any standard hearing conducted in court, when your case progresses. We will of course keep you fully informed, at all times, of the progress of your case.

VAT/Disbursements

This is charged at 20% in addition to our bill. There may be a need to incur additional cost by way of disbursements. They will only be incurred with your specific approval. There are some disbursements that are subject to VAT and some that are not, we will always notify you of any potential disbursements and ensure that alternative quotes are available, where applicable.

We offer a 24 hour emergency service and are committed to providing access to justice for every client that we represent.

Contact our Criminal Defence Solicitors Team for a consultation on 02920 484550 or email us at enquiries@bowdenjones.co.uk