We’ll see you through
We’ll see you through
Private Criminal Law
Family solicitors with compassion and care
Let’s face it, facing criminal charges is worrying. It can affect your personal life, your career, your future and your freedom.
I’ve been working in the legal field for more than 30 years, and with the support of the team here at Bridgers Law, we will offer you the utmost care during a distressing time, helping you to mitigate the legal process and consequences.
A question that comes up frequently from clients asking us for our help with criminal matters is about fees, so I’ll answer that first…our fees are fixed, so you won’t have any surprises.
Duane Bridger
Director & Head of Criminal
Bridgers Law can assist you with all criminal matters at all stages of the legal process.
We assist clients with the following crimes:
Sexual offences
Domestic assault
Drug offences
Theft
Fraud
Motoring offences
We assist clients at the following stages of the legal process:
Police station attendance
Magistrates’ Court attendance
Crown Court attendance
Judicial Review
Appeals
Contact us – we’ll see you through criminal proceedings
Get quick answers to our most frequently asked criminal law questions.
Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Contact us!
At Bridger’s Law, our criminal solicitor is Duane Bridger, dealing with all types of allegations from motoring offences to serious assaults and murders.. He can assist you with and accompany you at:
If you're arrested, charged, or under investigation for a criminal offence, whether minor or serious get in touch with us as early as possible so that we can support you, explain the process, ensure a fair process and start to build a defence to keep your matter out of court or be ready should you need to attend court.
A barrister is a specialist advocate who represents clients in court. Duane would generally instruct a barrister for support with court strategy and courtroom advocacy. You will know who they are – they wear the flowing gowns (silks) and wigs.
If you think an arrest might be imminent, contact us for early advice to help with:
If you’ve been invited for a voluntary police interview, you have the right to legal representation. A solicitor can attend with you, advise you on your rights, and ensure you don’t say anything that could be used against you later.
Legal support at this early stage can prevent misunderstandings and protect your interests.
We can go through the evidence with you and advise you on the strengths and weaknesses of your particular matter.
Provide you with legal advice
Represent you at the police station and in court
Negotiating plea deals
Case preparation, gathering evidence
Ensure fair legal proceedings
Yes, we can. They are usually conducted Under Caution in according with the Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984, they are serious and can lead to prosecution. Our solicitor can advise you on your rights, help you understand the allegations, and ensure you don’t unintentionally incriminate yourself.
Yes – from motoring offences, through to shoplifting, theft of vehicles, handling stolen goods or theft from a person.
Yes – Duane has 30 years’ experience in dealing all crime, from minor to extremely serious crimes including murder and manslaughter.
Yes – we can advise you, represent you and advocate for you for financial crimes such as fraud, obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception, receiving or converting criminal property. We can assist you to resist an application in accordance with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002.
Duane will advise you before the court appearance so that you know what to expect. This preparation is so important to ensure you are informed and aware of the process. Duane can accompany you to court, advocate and ensure a fair process. You will have the piece of mind knowing that you have the very best team at your side.
Yes – after discussion with you, going through options and potential outcomes, we can negotiate and speak on your behalf.
Yes – part of the solicitor’s role is to ensure a fair process and treatment of you whilst in the criminal proceedings process. He will challenge anything that deviates from this rigid legal process.
We charge a fixed fee for each stage of the matter and discuss this with you beforehand. It depends on the nature of the allegation and the length of the matter in court.
Yes – we will advise you on your rights, gather evidence, and challenge the prosecution’s case. At the police station, if you are arrested or questioned, we ensure you don’t say anything that could be misinterpreted.
If charged, we’ll represent you in court, cross-examine witnesses, and build a strong defence. We would seek to persuade the Crown to discontinue proceedings by highlighting the weaknesses in their case.
You’ll need to tell us what they are so that we know exactly what we are dealing with, but we can still help you.
Our role would be to ensure your past doesn’t unfairly affect your current case. We’ll argue for fair treatment, challenge prejudicial evidence, and highlight rehabilitation efforts. The Crown may wish to tell the court about these before your trial and we will look for ways to stop them from doing so.
Yes – we can advise you, represent you and accompany you to appeals.
Yes, we are able to assist with all matters.
No, we do not deal with immigration or extradition cases at present.
Yes we are able to assist you in either opposing them or in complying with these orders where your property has been seized.
Legal Aid is government-funded assistance that helps people cover legal costs if they cannot afford a solicitor and is available for a range of crimes, from minor to major.
Criteria must be met to gain Legal Aid.
You can find out more here:
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/work-out-who-qualifies-for-criminal-legal-aid#means
Can’t find the answer you’re looking for? Contact us!
If you are contacted by the police and asked to come in ‘just for a chat’, allow us to arrange a mutually agreeable time for you to attend for that chat and accompany you to the police station.
Get us involved from the start. Previous clients who have attended this ‘chat’ alone, have then called us in a very distressed state after, having been arrested and interviewed under PACE – the law that allows someone to be interviewed as part of a police inquiry.
You don’t need to be in that position if you give us a call if you are asked to attend a police station.
By being with you from the beginning, we can actively start putting your defence together and work on mitigation or even persuading the Crown to discontinue proceedings (even after charge).
Following the interview, we will become your point of contact with the Investigating Officer, taking the stress from you.
We can see you through from start to finish, helping you to get through the experience informed and reassured.
If you are charged, your first appearance will be in the Magistrates’ Court local to where the alleged crime took place. It’s at this stage in the legal process that you will be expected to enter your plea or pleas.
We will obtain all available evidence as soon as you instruct us, so that we are able to go through this with you, to determine the strengths and weaknesses of the case and the best course of mitigation.
You will not be alone when you appear in court, whether this is the initial Magistrates’ Court or later in the process at the Crown Court.
Either our director and criminal solicitor Duane Bridger, or a barrister from one of the excellent chambers we instruct in London, will be there with you, irrespective of which court you need to attend.
We can help to minimise the effect of these offences on your career and family life – motoring offences can impact much more than just your licence.
It might affect your ability to work and earn an income, risking your financial situation, knocking onto your ability to keep your home.
It might also affect your ability to look after your family – school runs, children’s clubs, parent taxi service, your own clubs and hobbies, travel, or caring for others, perhaps taking them to appointments, on outings or for their shopping.
Driving whilst disqualified is a serious offence and is probably the one offence which routinely sees those who disregard the bans routinely being imprisoned.
We are able to advise you on the strength of your case and your prospects of successfully defending the matter.
Should you accept the allegation, then we will assist you with your sentencing, compiling your mitigation so that your circumstances, the facts surrounding the incident and the application of the law, are presented in a favourable manner to the court.
This is an order issued by the court preventing one party from contacting another. Although they are usually issued when a relationship breaks down and one party no longer wishes to have any contact with the other, they are also issued in other circumstances. The court must be satisfied that it is necessary.
Breaching a Non-Molestation Order is serious and routinely results in a term of imprisonment.
Many people think that if the contact is initiated by the person who applied for the order, then that is acceptable – this is incorrect.
It is a crime to do so, even if responding to an invite such as a text or email.
A breach may be serious enough for the matter to be dealt with in the Crown Court.
There are always two sides to a story. We are able to present yours. A conviction for an offence of violence limits the scope of work that you may be able to do, especially where children, vulnerable people or the public (e.g. taxi driving) are concerned.
In some cases, you may be prevented from travelling to certain countries.
We listen, apply the law to your circumstances and then advise you.
Sometimes, expert witnesses are required, or CCTV footage needs to be obtained. We will do this for you and advise you of the cost before we do.
We analyse the application and advise on whether you should utilise a forensic accountant to disprove the Crown’s allegations.
A failure to comply with a POCA Order may result in an additional term of imprisonment which is served consecutively (immediately after), any other prison term.
After the prison sentence has been served, the money stated in the Order will still be due and you may be taken back to court.
Any amount due accrues interest, even if you are a serving prisoner.
We can help clients who are accused of the following crimes:
We work with you, aiming to reduce the possibility of serious penalties for you, your business and your reputation.
Duane Bridger has around 30 years’ experience dealing with criminal matters ranging from the most heinous murders to driving offences, to public order offences and any criminal matter in-between.
He has attended approximately 5,000 police interviews and represented clients in both the Magistrates’, Crown Courts and at the Royal Courts of Justice in the Criminal Court of Appeal.
Find out more about Duane and get to know him a little better by reading his bio.