Specialist criminal lawyers, London and Manchester
Olliers specialise in defending large scale and complex serious criminal cases. Nationally few firms can match our experience and expertise. We are the 2022 Manchester Legal Awards Small Firm of the Year. We were also highly commended at the 2022 Modern Law Awards in the Boutique Law Firm category.
We won four awards at the Manchester Legal Awards 2021 and were the Manchester Legal Awards 2021 Crime Team of the Year and Small Firm of the Year. Our Managing Director Matthew Claughton was the Manchester Legal Awards Partner of the Year 2021 and fellow Director Ruth Peters was the Solicitor of the Year 2021. We are previous winners of the Modern Law Awards Crime Team of the Year as well as having won the Manchester Legal Awards Crime Team of the Year on five occasions since 2011. Olliers is ranked as a top tier criminal defence firm in the 2023 editions of the Legal 500 and Chambers Directory. We are a Times Best Law Firm 2022.
Director Matthew Claughton has in excess of thirty years experience of defending serious criminal cases and is regularly singled out for mention by the Chambers Guide and Legal 500. Matthew is ranked as a top tier criminal practitioner by the 2023 edition of the Legal 500 and is the 2022 Manchester Legal Awards Partner of the Year. He is a previous winner of the Modern Law Awards Lawyer of the Year. Team members specialise in specific niche areas law meaning that we can provide specialist representation across the whole spectrum of criminal defence.
Clients can be seen at our Manchester or London offices, at barristers chambers in any major city or on a remote basis via Zoom or any other remote video conferencing platform. We cover prisons nationally.
Specialist criminal lawyers
We have substantial experience of cases investigated by the National Crime Agency, the Counter-Terrorism Unit and Organised Crime Division prosecutions within the Crown Prosecution Service.
Our proactive and robust approach to defence work has led to our team members developing huge levels of experience in the full range of criminal cases including:
Some frequently asked questions
In short, a conspiracy is an agreement between two or more people to commit an offence. For example, a conspiracy to supply controlled drugs is an agreement between two or more people to supply controlled drugs. A conspiracy to murder is an agreement between two or more people to kill another.
The short answer is no, not necessarily. If an officer has reasonable grounds for believing that the person suspected of an indictable offence (and other specified offences) is present at an address he may enter the premises to search for that individual. The police may also search an address occupied or controlled by someone who they have arrested for an indictable offence (and other specified offences) in order to search for evidence relating to that offence and as long as he has reasonable grounds to suspect there may be evidence in the premises. The Police and Criminal Evidence Act 1984 gives the police both of these powers.
No, you do not need to give the police the password for your phone unless you are issued with a notice under Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act (RIPA) 2000. If you are issued with such a notice you have a right to seek legal advice before you make a decision. Failing to provide passwords within a reasonable time after receiving a RIPA notice is a criminal offence, which can result in a prison sentence.
If you are arrested for an offence but not charged, the police can put you on bail for an initial period of 28 days. Following this, they can extend your bail for a maximum period of 3 months or 6 months in certain complex cases. Following this the police must either release you from bail or apply to the magistrates court to extend your bail.
When police seize a mobile phone, they may send it off to be analysed by an expert. The expert will prepare a report that will contain a download of all of the information stored in the memory of the handset, and this may include deleted items.
Being charged means that the decision has been taken that the case should be heard in court. Either a custody sergeant or a CPS lawyer will decide whether someone under investigation for an offence is to be charged. For a suspect to be charged there must be a realistic prospect of conviction and it must also be considered to be in the interests of justice.
A voluntary police interview is an interview by the police of a suspect who has attended the police station voluntarily and is not under arrest. By doing this a suspect can avoid being arrested. For certain offences police will often offer a voluntary interview before making an attempt to arrest a suspect, this is especially true for older or historic offences whether there is little need to have a suspect arrested.
Speak to a specialist criminal lawyer
If you need a specialist criminal defence lawyer please contact us by telephone on 0161 8341515, by email to info@olliers.com or click here to send us a message.
