Who speaks for a defendant who does not speak English? In Peterborough the answer matters every day. Interpreters are booked for many languages at the magistrates' court and the Crown Court, and a criminal defence solicitor here learns early that a client who nods through a police interview may have understood very little of it. Making sure the interview, the charge and the plea are genuinely understood is part of the defence, and so is explaining what a conviction will do to a residence application or a right-to-work check.
Peterborough Crown Court, in the Combined Court Centre near the river, hears serious cases from the whole north of Cambridgeshire and beyond, so its lists are long. Peterborough Magistrates' Court handles the volume: drink and drug driving on the A1(M) and A47, assaults and public order in the city centre on a Saturday night, shoplifting, driving without insurance, drug supply linked to the county lines that run out of London, and domestic abuse allegations. HMP Peterborough stands within the city, which makes conferences with remanded clients easier than in most places. Fraud, modern slavery and labour exploitation cases connected to the food and distribution industries, and environmental and waste offences, make up the more unusual end of the list.
Free legal advice at the police station is available to everyone arrested or interviewed by Cambridgeshire Constabulary, regardless of income, and should always be taken. Legal aid for the case itself is means-tested in the magistrates' court and available, sometimes with contributions, in the Crown Court; a number of Peterborough firms hold contracts and run the duty rota. Private clients can expect fixed fees for motoring cases and a staged estimate for anything bigger.
Scroll down for criminal defence solicitors serving Peterborough, verified firms first. Read what criminal law involves, the general criminal law solicitors page and whether you can get legal help for free; for the south of the county see criminal law solicitors in Cambridge.
