Police Station Representation Solicitors

Asking for a solicitor is your legal right and not an admission of guilt. The police can’t charge you just because you want a solicitor.

Legal advice during police station interviews is also free of charge, so there is no downside to asking our specialist police station representatives for help.

How our police station representatives in Eastbourne and Hastings can help you

• We’re professionally accredited police station representatives and duty solicitors.
• We offer 24/7 police station advice.
• We travel at short notice to police stations across East Sussex and beyond.
• We’re accredited by the Law Society for our expertise in defending people accused of all types of criminal offences.

Get in touch for 24/7 police station representation

You’re entitled to free legal advice at the police station, so if you or someone you know has been arrested or invited for voluntary interview under caution, get in touch as soon as possible:

• Daytime phone number: 01323 644222
• Out of hours phone number: 07724 350521
• Email: enquiries@stephenrimmer.com
• Or pay us a visit at 28 – 30 Hyde Gardens Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4PX

Why contact our police station solicitors?

Police stations will always have a duty solicitor you can talk to, so why contact us instead?

The duty solicitor on hand during your time at the police station will be qualified, but you don’t necessarily know how much experience they have.

Their role will also usually end once your stay at the police station ends, so you don’t have a consistency of service if you also need support during the criminal investigation stage or during court hearings. Having the same solicitor at every stage is usually best because they know your case inside out, so are best placed to help.

Every member of our team is a highly experienced lawyer with a broad range of expertise handling serious and often complex criminal law matters. So, when you instruct us, you can trust you are getting the advice and support you need.

As well as being qualified police station representatives, our criminal defence solicitors regularly go on to advise clients throughout the criminal justice process, all the way to court, including the Magistrates Court, Crown Court and Youth Court.

Our Head of Criminal Defence is Alan Hobden, who has over 30 years post-qualification experience as a solicitor and has been a duty solicitor since 1992.

Alan is supported by a highly experienced team who can spring to your side to defend you against allegations of all types of criminal offence, including:

• Driving offences
• Drug offences and conspiracies, such as possession and supply of Class A, Class B and Class C drugs
• Fraud, white collar crime and money laundering
• Theft, burglary and robbery
• Assault, actual bodily harm (ABH) and grievous bodily harm (GBH)
• Harassment and domestic violence related offences
• Murder, attempted murder and manslaughter
• Sexual offences, such as rape, historic sex offences, grooming and indecent images
• Dangerous dog offences
• Human trafficking and people smuggling
• Extradition

Criminal legal aid at the police station

In most cases, the police will want to interview you to ask questions about the crime they suspect you of committing. They may arrest you or they may invite you to attend for a voluntary interview under caution.

Everyone has the right to free legal advice when being questioned in the police station. It doesn’t matter what your income is, what your background is, or what criminal offence you have been accused of.

Voluntary interviews, despite often being framed in terms of ‘helping’ the police or casual conversations, are just as serious as interviews while under arrest. Anything you say during these interviews can be used as evidence in a decision to charge you or to refer your case to the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) for a charging decision.

So, it is critical that you have a solicitor by your side to represent you during the police interview. We’ll ensure that your legal rights are respected, make sure that you do not say anything that could harm your defence, and speak to the police on your behalf.

Solicitors are often able to find out information from the police before you are interviewed, such as the kinds of questions they’ll be asking. This means we can ensure you’re not walking in blind and are as prepared as possible.

There are some cases where the police will not interview you. For example, in drink driving cases, the police may just want to take specimen or breath, blood or urine for analysis but not want to question you. In such cases, we are still happy to provide advice. However, this advice will likely not be covered by legal aid.

Doesn’t asking for a solicitor mean you’re admitting to the crime?

No, the police will not think you are guilty if you ask for a solicitor. You have a legal right to advice when being questioned and the police have no more right to prevent you from contacting a solicitor than to withhold water from you.

Can the police question you without a solicitor?

Only if you say you don’t want one. If you want a solicitor, the police cannot question you until you have one. You also allowed to change your mind, so if you say no to contacting a police station solicitor when you are first arrested, but later decide you’d like one, you will be allowed one.

How do you instruct a police station representative?

You can ask the police to contact Stephen Rimmer Solicitors when you have been arrested.

If someone you know has been arrested and you are contacting us on their behalf, we are also happy to speak to you.

If you have been invited to a voluntary interview under caution, contact us as soon as possible to discuss it. We can accompany you to the police station to represent you during the interview. We can also provide advice and ‘prep’ you before going to the police station – however, this advice is unlikely to be covered by legal aid. Get in touch with us to discuss our fees for this advice.

Get in touch for 24/7 police station representation

You’re entitled to free legal advice at the police station, so if you or someone you know has been arrested or invited for voluntary interview under caution, get in touch as soon as possible:

• Daytime phone number: 01323 644222
• Out of hours phone number: 07724 350521
• Email: enquiries@stephenrimmer.com
• Or pay us a visit at 28 – 30 Hyde Gardens Eastbourne East Sussex BN21 4PX