Criminal Law

Merry Christmas from IMSLAW – Christmas Arrangements

We wish all our Clients and Colleagues a very happy Christmas and a happy and prosperous New Year.

Our offices close on 22/12/23 at noon and re open on the 02/01/24 at 9.00 am.

We are available for any emergency needs for example Police Station Attendances over the holiday period or important issues that may arise in relation to your case that need immediate attention.

We will also be available for any Criminal Court hearings over the festive period which will include the 26th through to the 29th of December 2023.

Please call 07793464380 and we will deal with your issue.

Kind regards

Seasons Greetings

IMSLAW

RELEASED ON POLICE BAIL OR UNDER INVESTIGATION BY THE POLICE ?

You may have recently been arrested by the Police or attended by voluntary arrangement at a Police station to be interviewed in relation to a criminal allegation.

Following on from that interview as is more common these days, you may not and people are not generally as far as we can tell antidotally charged straight away.

In fact more often than not they are either given a date with bail conditions or unconditional bail to return to the Police station pending further enquiry or released under investigation.

The difference between the two generally speaking is that where Police bail conditions are imposed, Police fear some substantial kind of risk following the initial investigation exists whereby they have to impose bail conditions to prevent the commission of further offences or prevent interference with witnesses. To achieve this aim and to limit any such risk, bail conditions are imposed.

If you don’t agree with these bail conditions you can apply to the Court to have these conditions amended although your Solicitor will probably charge you to do so as it is probably unlikely covered by any provisions of the Legal Aid scheme.

The other way the Police deal with matters after interview is simply to adjourn the investigation indefinitely and advise that you are released under investigation. This means that they must at some stage inform you whether the investigation is concluded and no further action is contemplated or whether it is ongoing and they simply provide you with an update.

You can contact your Solicitor to have them chase the Police up on the state of the investigation.

When Police do serve a letter finalising the case, for example no further investigation, they do tend to state clearly in a  letter of confirmation that if any further evidence comes to light that the investogation can be re-opened and re-investigated. Therefore the person under investigation is not put into a position where they can entirely consider that the matter is concluded as would perhaps be the case say for example they have been charged and then acquitted of an offence at trial.

If you have any further queries in any event please do not hesitate to contact us about being released on Police bail or released under investigation.

COVID-19 : Effects on the legal system

We at IMSLAW would like to reassure all our clients and contacts that we are, and will remain committed, to providing you with the best possible service during this difficult and challenging time.

To keep our clients and communities safe and in line with the government guidelines, we have closed our practice on Corporation Street in St. Helens but are continuing to work remotely. We are working diligently to ensure the minimum possible disruption to our services and your case. You can still contact us on our usual telephone number 01744 612 549 to discuss any personal injury or criminal cases.

Are personal injury claims still going ahead at the moment?

In relation to our personal injury cases, the wellbeing of our clients is paramount; we have therefore temporarily placed on hold all ongoing physical and psychological therapies for our clients. We are continuing to monitor the situation closely and will consider changing to remote treatment where it is appropriate for our clients needs.

Any medical appointments that are scheduled for future dates are also being monitored and, in-line with medicolegal considerations, we are considering remote examinations. We will judge the suitability of this  options for each client on a case by case basis.

Are criminal cases still progressing during lockdown?

In relation to criminal matters, a significant amount of court dates have been adjourned and we will update any client whose court hearing has been rescheduled. A network of priority courts are continuing to operate and hearings are taking place with the use of telephone, video and other conferecing technology to ensure as many hearings are able to go ahead as possible.

However, some hearings will remain on hold and we can advise that all new jury trials are being postponed. If you require more information about your particular case please contact us and will provide further information. We can advise that we are providing ongoing client updates and are contacting them about their individual circumstances via post and telephone.

If you require further information about court matters and COVID-19 please view the government website here.

Can I still get access to legal advice during lockdown?

Our working practices are flexible and allow easy engagement on a non-face-to-face basis. Regardless of where our teams are working they remain fully accessible by telephone and email and we will continue to support you in our usual dedicated and proactive way.If you wish to discuss a new criminal or personal injury matter we are available to advise you and take new instructions by phone or email.

If you would like legal advice during lockdown, speak to a member of our team to discuss any aspect of our services please on 01744 612 549 or complete our online enquiry form and we will contact you directly.

New Laws For Mobile Phone Use Behind The Wheel – Take Our Quiz

You could ask anyone if it’s illegal to use a mobile phone when driving and you can be pretty sure the answer would be a resounding “yes”.

Using your mobile phone while driving seems a clear enough concept, but are the rules around what constitutes mobile phone use as straightforward as they seem? With more changes to the law being implemented in November 2019, make sure you’re up to date with the all of the legislation.

Take our quiz to see if you can get full marks. You can check out our page on this subject to review the information afterwards, once you’ve completed the quiz.

If you need other legal advice, get in touch with our friendly team of solicitors here.

Where to find us

Visit:
IMS Law
89 Corporation Street
St Helens,
Merseyside
WA10 1SX
Call: 01744 612549
Email:

Mon to Fri – 9:00 to 17:00

IMS Law
Corporation Street, Saint Helens WA10 1SX, UK

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