A letter from the police arrives in Welling: a camera on the A2 caught the car at 50 in a 40, and because there are already nine points on the licence this one means a totting-up ban. For anyone who drives for a living that is a job lost, and the exceptional hardship argument at Bexley Magistrates' Court is where criminal law solicitors in Bexley earn their keep. Motoring offences, from speeding and mobile phone use to drink and drug driving on the A2, the A20 and the approaches to the Dartford Crossing, are the largest single category of work for the borough's defence solicitors, most of it fixed-fee.
The rest of the caseload is that of a quiet outer borough with busy roads and an industrial riverside: assaults and public order around the pubs of Bexleyheath and Sidcup, domestic abuse allegations, shoplifting from the Broadway, drugs cases involving young people in Thamesmead and Erith, fraud and benefit matters, and the occasional regulatory prosecution in Belvedere. Summary cases are heard at Bexley Magistrates' Court in Bexleyheath, and anything serious goes to Woolwich Crown Court beside Belmarsh, a short drive over the Greenwich border.
Everything begins at the police station, where advice is free whatever your means, including for a voluntary interview, and a solicitor at that stage can mean a caution instead of a charge, or no further action instead of a court date.
Most defendants qualify for legal aid, which is means-tested in the magistrates' court and may require contributions at the Crown Court; several Bexley firms hold a contract. Paying privately, expect a fixed fee for a motoring case and an estimate for each stage of anything larger.
Criminal defence firms serving Bexley are listed below, verified first. The guide to what criminal law involves and the note on free legal help are worth reading, with the general criminal law solicitors page for more; criminal law solicitors in Greenwich cover the Crown Court side.
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