An arrest at Euston or King's Cross may be made by British Transport Police rather than the Met, which changes the custody suite, the investigating officers and sometimes the charge. Camden has two of London's busiest stations, and the offences that come with them, from fare evasion and assaults on staff to drug supply and phone theft, sit alongside the borough's own caseload: the street dealing that Camden High Street and the Lock have long been known for, late-night violence outside Camden Town's venues, shoplifting on Kilburn High Road, and the student offences of Bloomsbury, where a caution for possession can threaten a visa or a professional registration.
Wherever the arrest happens, the first interview is free. Anyone detained or asked to attend a voluntary interview is entitled to a solicitor at the police station regardless of means, and a Camden criminal solicitor will want to be in the interview room at Kentish Town or Holborn before the first question rather than reading the transcript afterwards.
Camden's magistrates' court cases are usually listed at Highbury Corner, just over the border in Islington, and trials that go higher are sent to whichever Crown Court takes them, often Wood Green or the Old Bailey. Firms in the borough also act in the fraud and regulatory investigations generated by its universities, hospitals and tech companies, in protest cases from Bloomsbury and Euston, and in motoring matters for drivers caught on the Euston Road and the Finchley Road.
Legal aid is means-tested in the magistrates' court and usually available with contributions in the Crown Court; Camden still has firms with a criminal contract and a duty solicitor rota. Private clients should ask for fees per stage, and motoring cases are often fixed.
Criminal defence firms serving Camden are listed below, verified first. Read what criminal law involves, the general criminal law solicitors page, whether you can get legal help for free and, for the court itself, criminal law solicitors in Islington.
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