A soldier arrested in Salisbury on a Saturday night can face two systems of justice. The assault outside a bar on the market square goes through the civilian courts like anyone else's, but the Army will want to know, and a conviction may bring administrative action, loss of rank or discharge on top of the sentence; offences committed on the garrison or on duty may instead go to the Military Court Centre at Bulford for a court martial. Criminal defence solicitors in Salisbury are used to advising on both tracks at once, and on what a caution or a conviction will mean for a service career, a security clearance or a firearms certificate.
For everyone else the path is the civilian one. Wiltshire Police's custody suites are outside the city, so an arrest means a drive and a wait; the duty solicitor is free whatever your income, and a Salisbury firm will send a solicitor or accredited representative to the interview rather than leave a client alone. Cases return to the magistrates' court at Salisbury Law Courts on Wilton Road, and the serious ones go to Salisbury Crown Court in the same building, so the city's defence solicitors appear in both. The caseload is that of a market city with a garrison beside it and main roads through it: assaults and public order, drink and drug driving on the A36, A303 and A338, drugs, domestic abuse, sexual offences, poaching and hare coursing on the downs, and fraud and historic cases.
Legal aid is means-tested in the magistrates' court and available with contributions in the Crown Court; a handful of local firms hold contracts. Private clients should ask for a stage-by-stage estimate, often fixed for motoring.
Criminal defence firms serving Salisbury are listed below, verified ones first. Read what criminal law involves and whether you can get legal help for free, see the general criminal law solicitors page, and for the Hampshire side use the Winchester search.
