Motoring Offences

Driving offences range from ‘document’ offences, for example when a person fails to produce a copy of their driving licence or other documents, to more common cases involving, driving whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit, speeding, driving whilst using your mobile phone, driving whilst disqualified and driving with no insurance etc. There are also more serious offences such as dangerous/careless driving.

Key Services

1. Plea and strategy advice when a person is facing a motoring offence charge.
2. Advising of viable defence route when the person pleads guilty to a motoring offence.
3. In the case where there is no defence, advancing to mitigation on behalf of the defendant in order to minimise the penalty which the court imposes.
4. Making exceptional hardship applications to avoid the six month disqualification that usually comes with reaching 12 or more points.

There is a broad range of offences that come within the scope of driving offences. Here at Castelo, we aim to make the process run as straightforwardly as possible and this is reflected in our fee structure for motoring offences.

Guilty plea

If you have been charged with a motoring offence and accept full responsibility, with an intent to plead guilty at your first court hearing, then we will be able to offer you our full representation at a fixed fee of £2,000+VAT.

This fixed fee (guilty plea), will include the following;

• A consultation before the first court hearing to discuss and consider the evidence and provide advice in relation to all of the possible sentencing options the court has available.
• Assess and consider, where appropriate, whether exceptional hardship or ‘special reason’ arguments can be made.
• Representation for maximum of 2 court hearings. Your first court hearing and any second adjourned hearing for sentencing.

Any further hearings, will then be charged at a further £600+VAT thereafter.

Disbursements

Any disbursements will be charged in addition to the fixed fee and these may include (but not limited to);

• Expert barrister’s fees. Thus, if you require a particular barrister to represent you at court due to their specific area of expertise, we can formally instruct them on your behalf and their fee will be charged in addition to our fixed fee.
• Expert reports/records (medical or otherwise). Should you need to obtain an expert report that may assist with the understanding of your case or obtain a copy of your medical records from your GP, then these fees will be charged in addition to our fixed fee.

The time scale with regards to the court dealing your case can vary, depending on the court’s hearing allocation system. Generally speaking, for straightforward motoring offences such as driving without insurance, driving whilst using your mobile phone, speeding etc., these matters can/should be dealt completely, at your first court hearing, so you would plead guilty at court and the magistrate(s) will move straight on to sentencing you on the same day.

There are some cases, such as driving whilst over the prescribed alcohol limit, driving whilst disqualified, careless driving (and other more serious motoring offences) that may require a second, specific sentencing hearing, as the court will want the Probation Service to carry out a report to assess all sentencing options, together with your personal circumstances. Thus, generally speaking such offences should be dealt with within court 2 hearings.

Following your sentencing hearing, if there is then a need to consider appealing your sentence we will then charge this work at our usual hourly rate of £300+VAT, although a further consultation will be held to discuss the appeal process, the work involved and we can provide an estimate of costs at this meeting.

Not guilty plea

If you do not agree with the charges you face and intend to plead not guilty, then all work will be charged at our hourly rate of £300+VAT.

This work will include;

• Full consultation before the first court hearing to consider the initial evidence and provide advice. The solicitor will take a full, detailed note of instructions and explain the trial process. We will also discuss whether there are any witnesses that will assist your case, including any potential relevant evidence that an expert witness can provide.
• Attendance at the first court hearing, where you will formally enter your ‘not guilty’ plea, the case issues will be identified and a trial date will be fixed.
• A second consultation to discuss any secondary disclosure/evidence, your further instructions will be taken and advice given with regards to your current position.
• Arranging to obtain any witness statements where/if necessary, including instructing an expert witness or obtaining medical records.
• We will attend your trial to represent you. We will meet with you before going into court, which we would anticipate to last 1 day.
• We will discuss the outcome of your trial with you. If advice on appeal is required, this will also be charged at our hourly rate.
• If you are found guilty after your trial and your sentencing hearing is adjourned for another day, we will attend court with you to represent you.

Note: We cannot provide a timescale of when your hearing will take place, as this depends on the court’s listing system.

Disbursements

Disbursements incur additional cost and these will include (but not limited to);

• Expert barrister’s fees. Thus, if you require a particular barrister to represent you at court due to their specific area of expertise, then their fee will be charged in addition to our fixed fee.
• Expert reports/records (medical or otherwise). Should you need to obtain an expert report that may assist with the understanding of your case , then their fees will be charged in addition to our fixed fee.

Note: Any disbursements will be charged in addition to the fix fee.

Timescales

The timescales for resolving  motoring offences varies depending on what the offence is and whether the person charged with it pleads guilty or not. If a guilty plea is entered the case can be dealt with at a single hearing and is usually completed within six months from the date of the offence.

The Team

All motoring offence cases will be managed by our specialist team which includes Castelo Partner, Ana Afonso, as well as our expert solicitors who will also work with other members of our team with the appropriate level of experience.

You can find out more about our team at Castelo Solicitors here.

Our Pricing

Fixed Fee Guilty Plea: £2,000 plus VAT
Includes the first court hearing and any second adjourned hearing for sentencing.
Any further hearings, will then be charged at a further £600+VAT thereafter.
Disbursements will be charged in addition to the fix fee.

Not Guilty Plea Hourly Rate: £300 plus VAT
Disbursements will be charged in addition to the hourly fee.

Appealing Your Sentence Hourly rate: £300 plus +VAT
At this stage a further consultation will be held to discuss the appeal process, the work involved and the estimate of costs.

NOTE:

*VAT is applicable on our fees at the rate of 20%

**The pricing information on this page applies only to the services described on this page as provided by Castelo Solicitors and does not apply to services provided outside of scope of those set out here or to services provided outside of the United Kingdom.