A student arrested after a night out on the Cowley Road, a driver stopped on the A34 at twice the limit, a man accused of running a drugs line into one of the city's estates: each of them will be interviewed by Thames Valley Police, and for each the solicitor at the police station is free, whatever they earn. Oxford's criminal defence solicitors, or their accredited representatives, go out to the custody suite serving the city at any hour, and the advice given before the interview shapes everything that follows, from whether a caution is offered to what the prosecution can use at trial.
Oxford Magistrates' Court deals with the majority of cases, from motoring and public order to the first hearing of the most serious charges, and sends the rest to the Crown Court at the Oxford Combined Court Centre on St Aldate's. The caseload mixes a university city with a working one: drug possession and supply, assaults and sexual offences, burglary and vehicle crime on the ring-road estates, fraud, driving offences on the A34 and A40, and the occasional case involving a college, a laboratory or a hospital that draws attention out of proportion to its seriousness. Students and academics have extra concerns, since a conviction, or even a caution, can affect a visa, a professional registration or a career, and the solicitor should know that at the outset.
Most defendants qualify for legal aid; the magistrates' court applies a means test, the Crown Court may require a contribution, and the duty solicitor rota covers Oxford day and night. Private clients should be given a written price for each stage; a speeding or drink-driving case is often one fixed sum. The prison that serves the courts is HMP Bullingdon, near Bicester.
Criminal defence firms serving Oxford are listed below, verified firms first and then by distance. For background, see what criminal law involves, criminal law solicitors in general and the guide to free legal help.
