A container opened by Border Force at the docks, a cruise passenger stopped at the terminal with something in a suitcase, a lorry driver pulled over on the M27: a surprising number of the serious cases heard at Southampton Crown Court begin at the port. Drug importation, people smuggling and customs offences give the city's criminal defence solicitors work that most provincial firms never see, alongside the ordinary caseload of a large city: assaults and public order from the bars of Bedford Place and Above Bar, football-related disorder around St Mary's, drink and drug driving, domestic abuse, burglary and sexual offence allegations.
Everything starts at the police station. Anyone arrested by Hampshire and Isle of Wight Constabulary, or invited to an interview under caution, is entitled to a solicitor at public expense whatever their income, and the advice given in that first interview often decides whether a charge follows at all. Southampton's criminal firms run duty rotas around the clock.
Less serious offences, and the first hearing in every case, go to Southampton Magistrates' Court; trials for the gravest charges are listed at the Crown Court within Southampton Combined Court Centre on London Road. Motoring work is a speciality of its own in a city ringed by the M27, M3 and A33: speeding, totting-up bans, exceptional hardship arguments and drink-driving defences, usually on a fixed fee. Students at the two universities facing a first offence need advice on cautions and disclosure, since a record can end a nursing or teaching career before it starts.
Legal aid in the magistrates' court is means-tested; in the Crown Court most defendants qualify, sometimes with a contribution. Several Southampton firms hold criminal contracts. Private fees should be set out stage by stage.
Criminal defence firms serving Southampton are listed below, verified firms first. Read what criminal law involves, the general criminal law solicitors page and whether legal help is free; clients nearer Portsmouth can use criminal law solicitors in Portsmouth.
