Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Our criminal defence solicitors provide clear legal advice and representation for people facing drug-related offences. We can advise you throughout the criminal process, from initial investigation and police interviews through to court proceedings, helping you understand the allegations against you and the legal options available.
Criminal Defence Advice
A drug investigation can move quickly from a search or arrest to questions about your phone, money and the people around you. Our criminal solicitors help you understand exactly what police say connects you to the drugs or alleged supply, and what that evidence can and cannot establish. We take your account seriously, review the circumstances of the seizure and explain the decisions ahead before you respond to questioning or consider a plea.
Possession, intent to supply and involvement in a wider operation raise different legal and evidential issues. Our team looks beyond quantities alone to the interpretation of messages, access to shared premises, financial records and the role attributed to you. We can support you from interview through court preparation, including cases involving several suspects, and explain any related confiscation concerns so the criminal allegation and its financial consequences are considered together.
The Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 creates offences involving controlled drugs, including unlawful possession, supply and possession with intent to supply. The substance, its classification, knowledge, control and any proposed lawful authority can all matter. Intent to supply may be inferred from a combination of circumstances rather than a completed sale. Sharing drugs can amount to supply even without payment, and an allegation of conspiracy raises a separate question about an agreement to commit an offence.
Investigations may begin after a stop and search, vehicle stop, search of an address or arrest connected with another person. Police can seize suspected drugs, phones, cash, scales, packaging and other items and use that material to decide what offence they believe has been committed.
Phone downloads and messaging evidence often become important in supply cases. We look at the material attributed to you, the context of the communications and the role the prosecution says you played rather than assuming everyone mentioned in a wider investigation had the same involvement.
Following a drug arrest or interview request, our police station representation includes advice before questioning about seized substances or messages.
Saying drugs were for personal use does not settle an intent-to-supply allegation if messages, packaging or other evidence suggest otherwise. Equally, presence in a shared property does not automatically establish possession. A defence needs to engage with the full evidence, including material that is difficult to explain. We check attribution, continuity, laboratory evidence where relevant and alternative interpretations, while warning against deleting messages or coordinating accounts with other suspects.
If you are charged, we can review the prosecution papers alongside the drug, digital, financial and witness evidence. More serious supply or conspiracy allegations can involve several defendants and substantial phone material, which means the case needs to be organised carefully from an early stage.
For a serious drug case proceeding to the Crown Court, we work with counsel on the evidence and your alleged role; confiscation issues may require further preparation after conviction.
Drug cases often grow as phones are downloaded and links are alleged between different people, addresses and transactions. We keep the evidence organised around your position so the case does not become defined simply by the size of the wider investigation.
We can stay involved from interview through to court, deal with bail issues and work with a Crown Court barrister where required. If confiscation proceedings later arise, the history of the criminal case and the financial evidence are already understood by the same legal team.
A possession allegation with limited evidence may require substantially less work than a supply case involving several phones or defendants. Our estimate identifies the investigation or court stage covered, the likely need for counsel and any expert examination of substances or digital evidence. We explain VAT where applicable and distinguish defence fees from any confiscation liability or financial orders that could follow conviction.
We do not accept legal aid instructions. If you choose our firm, we will agree our fees with you before substantive work begins.
Drug Offence FAQs
Common questions about possession, supply, phone evidence, Crown Court proceedings and costs.
Evidence can include the quantity and type of drugs, packaging, cash, scales, phone messages, location data, CCTV and witness evidence. The combination of evidence differs from case to case.
Phone downloads and messaging evidence are commonly examined in supply investigations. We can review the material later relied upon and the context in which particular messages are said to have been sent.
Police may investigate who had knowledge of or control over the drugs and the place where they were found. We focus on the evidence said to connect you personally with the items.
Yes. You can obtain legal advice while the police investigation is ongoing and before any charging decision has been made. Early instructions allow us to review the interview arrangements and identify evidence about possession or the alleged role that should be preserved.
Serious supply and conspiracy cases can proceed to the Crown Court. The route depends on the charge and circumstances, and we can explain the procedure once the allegation is clear.
After conviction in some cases, the prosecution may ask the court to consider confiscation of criminal benefit. If that happens, financial information and the history of the criminal case can become important.
Yes. We can discuss taking over the case, obtain the available papers and prepare from the stage already reached. We will need the charge, next hearing date and information about any devices or financial material still being examined.
Fees depend on the stage of the case, amount of digital evidence, number of hearings and whether the matter proceeds to a Crown Court trial. We can explain the likely costs before you decide to instruct us.
Yes. Supply does not require a commercial sale, and sharing controlled drugs may amount to an offence. The prosecution still needs to prove the relevant conduct and legal elements. Advice should address the actual exchange and evidence rather than assume that the absence of payment provides a defence.
Quantity and drug class are important, but the offence, your role, culpability and personal circumstances also matter. A supply case may involve disagreement about the scale of activity and the role alleged. We review the relevant sentencing framework and supporting evidence instead of estimating an outcome from weight alone.
If the police have seized drugs, phones or other property, an interview is approaching or you already have a court date, speak to us about what has happened. We can review the stage your case has reached, explain the next steps and discuss the likely costs.
Arrange a telephone call or visit our Cheltenham office by appointment. We assist clients in Cheltenham and the surrounding Gloucestershire area.
Call 0330 900 0377, email info@pembridgesolicitors.co.uk or request a consultation.
Pembridge Solicitors
Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade
Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Office visits by appointment.