Which court will hear the case is the first thing a Sunderland defendant needs to know, because the answer decides how far they will travel. Summary offences and the first hearing of every case start at the magistrates' court in Sunderland. Anything serious enough for a jury or a long sentence is sent to Newcastle Crown Court on the Quayside, so criminal law solicitors in Sunderland work both buildings, and a firm with an office near a Metro station saves its clients a good deal of time.
Before either court comes the police station. Northumbria Police run the custody suite that serves the city, and anyone arrested or asked to attend a voluntary interview is entitled to free legal advice there whatever their income, from the duty solicitor or a firm of their own choosing. The interview is where many Sunderland cases are won or lost, and nobody should go through it unrepresented.
The caseload is urban and industrial: assaults and public order after matches at the Stadium of Light and nights out in the city centre and on the seafront; drug supply moving along the A19; domestic abuse; burglary and vehicle crime; benefit fraud; and the motoring offences, drink and drug driving, driving while disqualified and totting-up bans, that put a shift worker's job at risk. Workplace prosecutions after accidents at the plant or in the supply chain are rarer but serious.
Legal aid remains available, means-tested in the magistrates' court and with possible contributions in the Crown Court; ask whether the firm holds a criminal contract. Private clients should get fees quoted per stage, with motoring work usually fixed.
The defence firms serving Sunderland are listed below, verified first. Read whether you can get legal help for free, the general criminal law solicitors page and what criminal law involves; for the firms that appear daily in the Crown Court see criminal law solicitors in Newcastle.
