Defending Drivers

Meet the team

Worried you might lose your licence? Our team is here to help.

For many people their only involvement with the law comes when they are summonsed in relation to motoring offences. Penalty points for a minor offence may lead to the threat of disqualification. Our specialist advocates are often able to persuade the Court to allow you to keep your driving licence.

Disqualification from driving can be imposed for many motoring offences (e.g. speeding, drink driving etc.), and can have catastrophic consequences. We can advise on potential defences or mitigation, often avoiding any penalty at all or reducing the penalty to a more manageable one. We are happy to give you informal advice initially over the phone on all motoring matters and if required provide skilled and timely representation at court.

Berry Redmond Gordon & Penney specialist motoring lawyers have over 30 years experience in defending the motorist and have helped many drivers in similar circumstances to your own. We will to act for you on any motoring offences and have a proven track record of successfully defending motorists.

In many cases technical or evidential defences are available to drivers. Expert advice is therefore imperative. Call us now on 01934 414 161.

Meet the team

Legal Aid Funding

You may be eligible for legal aid to fund your case in full or with a financial contribution. The Legal Aid Agency will determine your eligibility based on your income and whether it is in the interests of justice your case is funded. Funding may be available to you in Magistrates Court and Crown Court.

Police Interview

If you are being interviewed by the police, you are eligible to receive free and independent legal advice and representation, no matter what your income.

Private Payers

If you are not eligible for legal aid, we can represent you on a private paying basis. We offer most services at a fixed fee however we reserve the right to adjust our fees depending on your intended plea and the complexity of your case.

Magistrates Court Fees

Please see below for our fixed fee services.

Representation at the Magistrates Court
Our fee includes: Considering the evidence in your case. Taking your instructions. Advising on the strength of the evidence for a plea hearing. Advising on likely sentence. Advising on mitigation. Attendance and representation at one hearing at the Magistrates Court.
Fee:	£800.00
20% VAT:	£160.00
Total:	£960.00

Your case may not conclude at the first hearing and may be adjourned for a number of reasons, including the following:

The Magistrates order a pre-sentence report to be compiled by The Probation Service to assist in sentence, so your hearing cannot be dealt with on the same day.
The Magistrates may decide your case is too serious to be sentenced in the Magistrates’ Court and commit the case for sentence in the Crown Court.
Your hearing may also be adjourned due to lack of court time or other matters outside of our control.

If your case is adjourned through no fault of this firm, including (but not limited to) the reasons outlined above, we reserve the right to charge an additional fee of £360 (£300 plus 20% VAT).

Trial

If your trial proceeds in the Magistrates Court, the cost to cover this will depend on the complexity of the case and will be assessed by our criminal solicitors.

The cost to cover your trial is in addition to your first appearance at the Magistrates Court.

Our fee includes:

Receipt and review of the evidence.
One conference with you prior to your trial.
Preparation of your statement for use at the trial.
Liaising with the court and the Crown Prosecution Service on your behalf.
Assessment whether an expert will be required and liaising with an expert if required.

Fee estimate:

Starting from £2,000 plus 20% VAT

If the trial is adjourned for reasons outside of our control, there may be an additional fee of £360 (£300 plus 20% VAT) for each adjournment.

Please note that our trial fee does not include representation at any sentencing hearing following a conviction after trial. Should you wish to instruct us to represent you at the sentencing hearing, an additional fee will apply. Your solicitor will provide further details as required.

Should you wish to have a one-hour conference with one of our criminal solicitors for advice, the fee will be £480 (£400 plus 20% VAT).

Exceptional Hardship Argument

If you acquire 12 points or more on your licence you may be disqualified from driving for a minimum period of 6 months. The disqualification can be reduced or avoided if the court finds a driving ban will cause you exceptional hardship. Our solicitors will advise you as to what qualifies as exceptional hardship and will make this argument to the court on your behalf.

Our fee includes: -

A conference with your solicitor to discuss your matter.
Advising you on the merits of your case.
Advising you on what supporting evidence is required.
Advising you on the likely outcome and sentence.
Representation at the Exceptional Hardship hearing.

Fee:

20% VAT:

Total:

£1,500.00

£300.00

£1,800.00

Special Reasons

A special reasons argument is an argument made to the court following a conviction for a motoring offence that carries penalty points or a disqualification from driving. If successful, a special reasons argument can avoid or reduce penalty points or a driving ban. Our solicitors will discuss whether a special reasons argument will apply in your specific case and discuss our fees.

Exclusions

Please note travel costs may be additional, depending on court location.

Our fee does not include any additional costs incurred in respect of the following: -

Instruction of any expert witnesses. Expert witness fees will be an additional cost.
Taking statements from witnesses.
Advice and assistance in relation to special reasons and appeals.

The most likely additional cost you will be required to pay will be expert witness fees where an expert report is necessary to support your defence. The cost of this report ranges from a few hundred pounds, up to a few thousand pounds, depending on the type of report needed. You will may also be required to pay for the expert witness’ time and travel when they are required to attend court. We will assist you in obtaining quotes from expert witnesses.

Crown Court Fees

We can assist you should your case be sent to the Crown Court for sentence or trial. We offer a fixed fee for sentence hearings. Trial fees will vary depending on the complexity of the trial.

You will require a barrister to represent you in the Crown Court. Barrister fees will be in addition to our own. We can assist you with selecting a barrister and will obtain quotes for their services. In supporting your selection, we will provide you with links to their resumes.

Committal for sentence

Our fee includes:

Obtaining quotes from Chambers for representation by a barrister.
Briefing a barrister on your case and liaising with them.
Communicating with the court and the Crown Prosecution Service on your behalf.
Filing any supporting documentation with the court, if required, to assist with your sentencing hearing.

Fee:

20% VAT:

Total:

£350.00

£70.00

£420.00

Trials in the Crown Court

If your trial proceeds in the Crown Court, we will provide you with a cost estimate for our work.

Please note that legal aid funding may be available to cover the cost of your Crown Court trial even if you were ineligible for legal aid funding at the Magistrates Court.

Trial

Our fee includes:

Obtaining quotes from Chambers for representation by a barrister.
Briefing a barrister on your case and liaising with them on your behalf.
Communicating with the court and the Crown Prosecution Service on your behalf.
Holding a conference with you to take your instructions.
Preparing your proof of evidence (statement) to assist your barrister in drafting your defence statement.
Attending a conference with you and your barrister to discuss your defence.
Assessing whether an expert is required and liaising with them (please note that expert witness fees will be an additional cost).
Managing your case through to trial and ensuring compliance with all court stage dates.

If your case is adjourned through no fault of this firm, we reserve the right to charge an additional fee.

If you are convicted following trial, an additional fee will be payable for representation at your sentencing hearing. Your representative will provide further details as necessary.

Timescales

There are presently extensive delays in the court system in England and Wales Timescales for a court case will be determined based on your plea and the courts. We can only provide you with an estimate of what the timescales will be for your case but we will regularly update you in respect of timescales at each stage in the court process.

If your case is dealt with in the Magistrates’ Court, a guilty plea could see your case being finalised at the first hearing. More often two hearings are required as the court directs the Probation Service to compile a pre-sentencing report to assist in sentencing. It could take between 6-8 weeks for your case to resolve if further hearings are required.

If you plead guilty in the Magistrates Court and your case is sent to the Crown Court for sentence, this could again take between 6-8 weeks to resolve from start to finish.

A trial in the Magistrates Court could take between 6 to 12 months to resolve from first hearing to sentencing.

Appeals of convictions or sentences in the Magistrates Court are heard in the Crown Court. We estimate appeals are currently taking between 6-12 months, but it depends on the complexity of the case.

A trial in the Crown Court will take much longer to resolve depending on the complexity of the case. We estimate most of the cases we have dealt with resolved within 1 – 3 years, however this could be considerably longer if your case is appealed or re-tried.

We can only provide you with our best estimate of timescales for your court case, as court listings are entirely out of our control.

For further information please contact us on 01934 414161 or email us on [email protected] .

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