A lorry is stopped at the ferry terminal at King George Dock and the driver, who swears he knew nothing about what was in the trailer, is interviewed by Border Force and Humberside Police before dawn. Cases like that give criminal law solicitors in Hull a flavour few towns share: importation of drugs, cigarettes and people through the port, immigration offences and the occasional maritime prosecution. The rest is the ordinary business of a city with a busy night-time economy in the Old Town and on Princes Avenue, two rugby league clubs and a football club whose derbies need policing, and the drug problems of a poor city.
Everything begins at the police station. Anyone arrested or asked to attend a voluntary interview is entitled to a solicitor there free of charge, regardless of income, and the duty solicitor scheme covers Humberside Police's custody suites around the clock. A solicitor will obtain disclosure, advise whether to answer questions or give a prepared statement, and, if the client is released under investigation, keep pressing for a decision in the months that can follow.
Most cases are finished at Hull Magistrates' Court in the Old Town. The serious ones go to Hull Crown Court at the Combined Court Centre on Lowgate, a short walk away, and sentences are served at HMP Hull on Hedon Road or at HMP Humber in the East Riding, where prison law solicitors deal with adjudications and parole. Motoring work is constant: the A63 through the city, the Humber Bridge approaches and the rural roads of Holderness produce speeding, drink-driving and disqualification cases every week.
Legal aid is available for most criminal matters, means-tested in the magistrates' court and with contributions in the Crown Court; private clients, usually motoring, should ask for a fixed fee per stage.
Criminal defence firms serving Hull are listed below, verified ones first. See what criminal law involves, free legal help and the general criminal law solicitors guide; the East Riding search finds firms in Beverley and Bridlington.
