General Crime
Sexual Offences
Being accused of a Sexual Offence can be a stressful and worrying experience. At Hodge, Jones and Allen, we take Sexual Offence issues very seriously, and are here to help every step of the way, ensuring you get a fair investigation and trial.
The last ten years have seen a marked rise of investigations and prosecutions for Sexual Offences. During that time, our Sexual Offence Solicitors have been at the cutting edge of representing those accused of such offences.
Our award winning Sexual Offences Solicitors are experienced and knowledgeable when it comes to dealing with investigations of this nature.
The team is led by Nigel Richardson, author of the go-to guide on the subject: Sexual Offences – A Practitioner’s Guide. Ranked as Band 1 in Chambers and in the prestigious Legal 500 Hall of Fame, Nigel is the acknowledged expert in this field and perhaps the only Solicitor in the country who acts exclusively in sex offence cases.
Contact our team confidentially on 0808 252 5231 or request a call back.
Our Financial Crime & Regulatory team has been ranked in the Chambers & Partners 2023 legal directory. The team was described as “very friendly and professional” and “effective in the financial crime area.”
“As a firm they have a real team spirit, always sharing knowledge and experience with each other, to the benefit of their clients. They have a superbly dynamic and diverse team of lawyers in the team.” – Legal 500, 2023
“HJA’s criminal solicitors are amongst the leading criminal solicitors in the country. They have been involved in countless landmark cases but also in hundreds if not thousands of important protest cases in the magistrates courts.”- Legal 500, 2023
Sexual Offence Solicitors
At Hodge Jones and Allen Solicitors, we’re here to help you. We use our extensive legal knowledge and experience to advise and represent clients charged with a range of Sexual Offences including:
- Rape and sexual assault
- Historic sex offences
- Voyeurism and exposure
- Sexual communications offences
- Sexual offences against children
- Indecent images
- Offences relating to prostitution and trafficking
- Perverting the course of justice and making false rape complaints
- Sexual Harm Prevention Orders (SHPOs), Sexual Risk Orders (SROs) and the sex offenders register
- Potential criminal liability for those operating in the sex industry
“AT FIRST POINT OF CONTACT I WAS GIVEN PLENTY OF TIME TO EXPLAIN MY SITUATION WITH ONE OF THE TEAM... THE COMMUNICATION AND ADVICE WAS CLEAR, NON JUDGMENTAL AND EFFICIENT.”
What To Do When Accused Of A Sexual Offence?
Being accused of a Sexual Offence can have more than just legal implications. It can have implications on every area of your life. It’s important you get in touch with our experienced solicitors as soon as possible, so we can help.
We want to be involved as soon as we can – before any police questioning if possible. What is said in that initial interview can be crucial to the outcome of your case. However, clients often come to us after they have been advised by a non-specialist legal advisor at the police station and there is still plenty we can do.
Our team can call on a wealth of experience to help. We have defended clients accused of every different Sexual Offence in a huge range of circumstances. We provide excellent but straightforward advice in this complex area of law.
Why Choose Hodge Jones & Allen?
At Hodge, Jones and Allen Solicitors, we don’t just treat our cases as legal problems. As well as giving you expert legal advice, our Solicitors make use of the multi-disciplinary practice we offer to give you advice on the impact on your employment, your relationships (including access to children), and even on the possibility that the accusation might be a prelude to bringing a civil claim.
We can also advise you on publicity and protecting your reputation. For those who work in a professional field, we can advise you on any regulatory matters that arise, even from an accusation alone.
How Can We Help You?
At Hodge, Jones and Allen Solicitors, we help you every step of the way, including:
Getting You Through Any Police Interview
We can help you by advising you on whether to answer questions and, if so, how best to get your point across.
Gathering Evidence
Many Solicitors adopt a ‘wait and see’ approach. However, we may be able to track down witnesses, secure CCTV or video footage or even examine phones and computers that could help your case.
Building Your Case
Building up a dossier of reasons why you should not be charged and presenting it to the prosecution at the right time can go a long way to helping your case. At this stage, our aim is to do everything we can to prevent your case from going to court. If that is not possible, we want to have started to prepare your defence, so you can go to trial with the best possible backing.
Court Proceedings
We ensure our clients have the right legal team around them to fight their case. Over the years, we have identified the best Barristers and experts in this field and work closely with them to secure the best possible outcomes.
Defending Sexual Offences is a specialist skill, very different from general Criminal Defence, which is why it’s important to get in touch with experienced Sexual Offences Solicitors. Core issues include:
- Disclosure of ‘unused material’
- Examination of the police investigative process
- Credibility of witnesses.
It’s crucial that the accused person presents themselves properly, both to police in interview and giving evidence in court, if it comes to that.
Appeals
If someone has been convicted of a Sexual Offence and maintains their innocence, we can help. We have experience of examining convictions, looking for fresh evidence and advising whether there are grounds to show that the conviction is unsafe.
Advisory work
As the foremost legal experts in Sex Offence law, we advise organisations and institutions as well as individuals. This can cover a range of issues from the possession or publication of risky or potentially indecent material, to the laws surrounding the sex industry or the employment of staff accused of sexual offences.
Sexual Offences Case Studies
Represented H
H was a wealthy Arab sheikh accused of rape and assault on his girlfriend. He absconded while on bail, but the trial went ahead in his absence. Despite the fact he wasn’t there, by careful case preparation and good cross-examination, we secured an acquittal from the jury.
Represented M
M was an octogenarian ex-headmaster who was charged with indecent assault on some of his pupils in the 1980s. The evidence against him was very strong and we advised him to make admissions and plead guilty. This advice, and a very good package of mitigation, allowed the judge to give a non-custodial sentence.
Represented D
We represented D, a GP accused of sexual assault on four of his patients. By the time he came to us, he had already been convicted of other similar offences and was serving a 10-year sentence. Despite the jury being aware of his previous convictions, he was acquitted of all charges.
R v Makele
An important case in which the prosecution of our client for rape collapsed after we showed that crucial photographs were on the complainant’s phone and had not been disclosed. This was one of the cases which sparked an outcry about failures of disclosure by the police and CPS.
