Moseley
0121 449 5050
Acocks Green
0121 707 8484

Criminal Defence

  • Dealing with Criminal Matters from Murder to Motoring Offences
  • Specialists in Serious Crime
  • Available and on Call 24 Hours a Day / 365 Days a Year - Emergency Number – 07710 367 398
  • FREE legal advice for police interviews
  • Work Claimed Under Legal Aid Where Available

Gordon Peters LLB

Partner, Solicitor admitted 1990 ~ Articled to one of our predecessor firms, Barnett & Co in 1988. Head of the criminal department and became a Partner in 2005. Gordon is the Firm’s Money Laundering Reporting Officer (“MLRO”). Gordon qualified as a solicitor in 1990 and was accredited as a Court and Police Station Duty Solicitor a couple of years later. He attends Magistrates’ Courts and police stations on a daily basis. His methodical approach to preparation and calm approach to advocacy guarantee a high quality service. Gordon has a formidable record of victories in Magistrates’ Court trials. He deals with general crime from private motoring matters to murder. A client with numerous convictions for serious offences recently praised Gordon’s, “Beautiful performance” and “Great job” in court. Other clients have described Gordon as “An unsung hero”.

View on the Law Society

Maslen Merchant F CILex

Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Legal Executives qualified in 1997 ~ Heads our Crown Court and Appeals Team with over 35 years of specialist experience in these areas. Thorough and hardworking with a no nonsense, uncompromising approach. Maslen has been described as “One of the best appeal lawyers in England”, “Brilliant”, “Impressive” and “A leader in his field”. After one successful appeal against conviction, the client described him as “Beyond compare”. A barrister recently said, “In 21 years at the Bar, I have never had Instructing Solicitors who have prepared cases in such depth and to such a high quality.” He is also an accredited Police Station Representative and the Firm’s Data Protection Manager.

View on CILex

Laura Killworth

Having worked at the firm since 2006, Laura originally qualified as a family law paralegal in 2014 and transferred her skills to crime. ~ Enthusiastic and hardworking, she provides invaluable assistance with Crown Court and Criminal Appeal matters and receives very positive feedback from clients. Laura regularly assists with Crown Court cases involving murder, serious sexual offences, firearms and armed robbery.

Our Experienced, Qualified Lawyers Can Advise and Assist You Regarding the Following Criminal Matters

Free Legal Advice as of right to all for:

The Investigation

The Investigation

  • Interviews after arrest
  • Identification Procedures
  • Voluntary police Interviews

Free Legal Advice (subject to means testing) for non-police investigations and interviews including DWP, Benefits Fraud Investigations, Job Centre Interviews, Health and Safety Executive Investigations and Trading Standards Investigations.

We are available 24 hours a day to attend clients in custody at police stations or attending for interview by appointment and to give telephone advice to people in custody at police stations. We aim to ensure that the interview forms a sound basis for the defence of the case from the start. We specialise in helping clients who are particularly vulnerable, such as young people and people with mental health problems and learning difficulties.

The Prosecution / Court Proceedings

  • Representation at Magistrates’, Youth and Crown Courts
  • Trials / Guilty Pleas / Sentence / Mitigation

We can represent you in connection with all criminal cases including offences of violence, dishonesty, drugs, sexual offences, fraud and motoring matters.

We represent clients in the Magistrates’ Courts in and around the West Midlands on a daily basis. With an uncompromising approach to defence, we always aim to achieve the best outcome, whether it be a not guilty verdict or a fair sentence.

In the Crown Court, we maintain a high caseload of serious crime, regularly dealing with homicide (we have dealt with prosecutions involving contract murders, multiple homicide, and serial murder), firearms offences, robbery, violence, drug offences, gang related crime and sexual offences as well as offences across the whole range of the criminal law.

We adopt a positive, proactive approach to our clients’ defence and give no nonsense, straightforward advice you will understand.

After Court

After Court

  • Criminal Offences Inside Prison - mutiny, violence, prohibited articles, drugs.
  • Breaches of Orders
  • ASBOs / SOPOs

The end of the court case does not mean the end of our expertise and the help that we can offer our clients.

The firm has regular conduct of matters in the Court of Appeal, representing clients who are already convicted of a wide range of offences including murder, robbery and serious sexual offences, who instruct us after they are wrongly convicted. We work with barristers who are recognised as some of the country’s leading miscarriage of justice experts.

We regularly receive recommendations and referrals from a number of campaigning organisations as well as journalists, other firms of solicitors, doctors, expert witnesses, barristers and many existing clients.

Notable cases

  • R v J.M. and R.C. House of Lords: convictions for gang related wounding with intent and other offences quashed.
  • R v A., A. and M. Crown Court – an alleged gang related kidnapping. CCTV captured the alleged victim being put into the boot of a vehicle. Following extensive requests for disclosure and a robust defence application, the case was stayed as an abuse of process.
  • R v A.B. Court of Appeal: appeal against conviction for armed robbery based on non-disclosure of unused material and fresh expert evidence concerning CCTV imagery.
  • R v A.L. Court of Appeal: convictions for gang related offences including attempted murder, quashed. Following this case one officer was reported as saying that the police “were taught a lesson in disclosure by the defence solicitors”.
  • R v A.R. Court of Appeal: convictions for manslaughter and assault with intent to rob quashed. A leading case on ‘reward’, reported in the Times Law Reports.
  • R v A.S. Crown Court – client charged with wounding with intent following a large disorder during which 2 people were stabbed. Representations were made to the prosecution about the strength of their case following careful analysis of CCTV footage of the incident. The case was dropped as the Crown accepted our submission that their main witness was lying.
  • R v “B” Crown Court – 14 year old child with ADHD acquitted of murder and manslaughter. The case involved hundreds of hours of painstaking analysis of CCTV and of evidence from lengthy Snapchat conversations. The case attracted national publicity.
  • R v V.B. M.B. and M.B. Court of Appeal Following Reference by CCRC: Convictions for murder quashed and wounding with intent substituted following fresh pathological evidence relating to cause of death.
  • R v “C” Crown Court: alleged attempt by a “notorious gangster” to pervert the course of justice by bribing a witness to give evidence in the court of appeal. He was found not guilty.
  • R v C.C. Crown Court: client charged with two separate attempted murders and firearms offences. Five witnesses named him as the gunman. He was found not guilty of all charges.
  • R v “D” Court of Appeal: gangland murder. Conviction quashed following the discovery of evidence of widespread police corruption and the mishandling of an informant.
  • R v D.F. Court of Appeal Following Reference by CCRC: a successful appeal against convictions for involvement in large scale drugs offences based on fresh evidence of police corruption.
  • R v D.L.H. Court of Appeal: conviction for armed robbery quashed. We uncovered fresh evidence which proved that a police officer had deliberately changed an exhibit reference in order to convict the client, for which she faced disciplinary action after the successful appeal. The case attracted national publicity.
  • R v “F” Crown Court: A former teacher facing charges of sexual impropriety against a pupil at a school. The client was found not guilty in 8 minutes.
  • R v G.E.H. Court of Appeal: conviction for conspiracy to rob £6.5 million cash in transit quashed.
  • R v G.J.H. and J.L.D. Court of Appeal: Convictions for of a gang related murder quashed as a result of fresh evidence which significantly undermined the main prosecution witness’s credibility. JLD’s case was referred to the Court of Appeal by the CCRC.
  • R v H.D. Court of Appeal following reference by CCRC: an appeal against a statutory minimum term imposed for possession of a firearm.
  • R v I.C. Crown Court – client charged with being concerned in the supply of class A drugs. Following a detailed analysis of the prosecution case, negotiations with the prosecution led to an agreed basis of plea, putting him in a lesser role and avoiding a prison sentence despite his involvement with a drug line over a period of several months.
  • R v J.D. Crown Court: the client faced charges including manslaughter, with five co-defendants. The main issue in the case was cause of death. The client was found not guilty of all charges.
  • R v J.M. Crown Court: conspiracies to cause explosions and to steal over £330,000 from cash machines. The client was acquitted within an hour, the only one of twelve defendants who was found not guilty of all charges.
  • R v J.S.L. Crown Court: Prosecution for attempted murder and other offences. Client acquitted of attempted murder. The case involved frame by frame scrutiny of relevant CCTV to analyse both imagery and sound.
  • R v “K” Crown Court: child defendant, with severe mental health issues and a learning disability originally charged with attempted murder. In a very complex and demanding case, 18 medical reports were obtained addressing the clients’ difficulties. Following service of the reports and the submission of representations the charge was reduced to unlawful wounding and the court ultimately accepted that he was not fit to plead.
  • R v K.K. Crown Court: prosecution for possession of firearms and ammunition. Case discontinued by the prosecution after application was made to exclude DNA evidence on the basis that the actions of the police compromised the scene and jeopardised the scientific evidence.
  • R v K.R. Crown Court – client acquitted of wounding with intent. The preparation of a defence storyboard from the CCTV footage was instrumental in persuading the jury that the complainant was lying.
  • R v L.F. Court of Appeal Following Reference by CCRC: a successful appeal against convictions for involvement in drug supplys offences based on fresh evidence of corruption supporting the client’s claim that drugs were planted by the police.
  • R v L.M. Crown Court: client acquitted of gang related murder, attempted murder and possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life.
  • R v M.C. Court of Appeal: appeal involving allegedly gang related murder and attempted murders, argument centred on the purported identification of the client by a police officer from video footage. A leading case on the identification of suspects by the police.
  • R v M.H. Crown Court: client named by the alleged victim as responsible. Acquitted of kidnap and attempted murder of rival gang member.
  • Operation HUNTERIAN. Crown Court: We represented 6 out of 12 defendants charged with conspiracies to supply class A drugs. West Midlands Police said the investigation was the largest carried out by its County Lines Task Force. The group took more than 1,000 calls a day and supplied heroin and crack cocaine to more than 200 users. 240 police officers were involved in executing warrants at 17 addresses. Sky News and the Birmingham Evening Mail accompanied the police to one address. Successful Newton hearings took place for 2 clients when the judge accepted defence submissions regarding the volume and value of the drugs sold.
  • Operation OSLO. Crown Court: prosecution for the importation of 639kg of cocaine worth £44-64 million, by the Southeast Regional Organised Crime Unit. Client allegedly a member of an international organised crime group. The case involved very careful analysis of extensive telephone records, encoded messages, CCTV and other evidence to prepare an acceptable basis of plea.
  • R v P.R. Court of Appeal Following Reference by CCRC: conviction for murder quashed and manslaughter substituted following fresh evidence relating to provocation and loss of control.
  • R v R.P. Crown Court: prosecution for robbery discontinued following service of a detailed defence statement and submissions regarding the clear disparity between cell site evidence and the complainant’s account.
  • R v R.T. Crown Court: possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life. Client acquitted at trial after careful analysis undermined the Crown’s evidence relating to cell siting and call data.
  • R v S.L. Court of Appeal following reference by CCRC: convictions for sexual offences, including rape, referred to the court of appeal after we submitted nineteen pieces of fresh evidence.
  • R v S.R. Crown Court: prosecution for possession of class A drugs with intent to supply discontinued after service of a detailed defence statement challenging the provenance and continuity of exhibits seized.