Wood Green Crown Court sits on Lordship Lane, in the middle of Haringey, and it is where the borough's most serious cases, and many from Enfield and the rest of north London, are tried. Criminal defence solicitors here know its judges and its listing habits, and a firm within walking distance is a practical advantage. The lower end of the system has moved away: the borough's own magistrates' courts, at Highgate and Tottenham, closed some years ago, and first hearings and summary trials are mostly at Highbury Corner, with youth court work listed separately.
Haringey's caseload is heavy and varied. Tottenham and Wood Green generate serious violence, drug supply, firearms and robbery cases, and a large share of youth court work, where the priority is often an out-of-court outcome before a record is created. Match days at the stadium bring public order, ticket touting and football banning order applications; the A10 and the North Circular bring drink and drug driving, driving while disqualified and speeding; and the borough's many small businesses produce fraud, licensing and trading standards prosecutions. Domestic abuse, stalking and harassment cases and the night-time economy around Green Lanes round out the picture.
The right to free legal advice at the police station applies to everyone, at Tottenham or wherever else the Metropolitan Police take a suspect, and a solicitor in the interview is the most effective protection a suspect has. Legal aid for the court stage is means-tested in the magistrates' court and may require contributions in the Crown Court; Haringey has a strong tradition of legal aid defence firms, so representation is rarely hard to find. Private fees are usually fixed for motoring cases and staged for anything else.
Criminal defence firms serving Haringey are listed below, verified firms first. Read what criminal law involves and the general criminal law solicitors page, check whether free legal help is available, and see criminal law solicitors in Enfield for the borough to the north.
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