Calderwood House, Montpellier Parade, Cheltenham GL50 1UA
Our criminal defence solicitors provide clear legal advice and representation for people facing allegations of public order offences. We can advise you from the initial investigation and police interview through to court proceedings, helping you understand the allegations, evidence and legal options available to you.
Criminal Defence Advice
Being arrested after a confrontation or group incident can leave you accused of conduct that you say has been misunderstood or attributed to the wrong person. Our public order solicitors examine what you personally are alleged to have done, rather than treating everyone present as having the same role. We review the footage and accounts, explain the charge and help you prepare for interview or court with a clear understanding of the evidence.
Public order cases may involve overlapping allegations of violence, threats, assault or damage, and the legal requirements differ between offences. Our criminal defence team checks the complete sequence, the reliability of identification and any relevant account of self-defence. We can address bail restrictions, prepare a contested hearing or gather mitigation where conduct is admitted, while explaining the potential consequences for work, travel and future disclosure.
The Public Order Act 1986 contains offences with different requirements concerning violence, threats, behaviour and their likely effect. Affray involves unlawful violence or its threat towards another and a test concerning a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene; that hypothetical person need not actually be there. Other charges have different elements, so noisy, offensive or confrontational conduct should not be treated as automatically proving the particular public order offence alleged.
Affray, violent disorder and other public order allegations can arise after incidents in town centres, licensed venues, streets or other settings. Several people may be arrested following the same event, but that does not mean everyone is accused of doing the same thing.
CCTV may come from council cameras, pubs, clubs, shops, mobile phones, social media or police body-worn video. Different recordings can show different parts of the incident, so the sequence of events and what happened before and after a particular clip can matter.
We can arrange police station representation before questions about your conduct during the incident.
A public order investigation can also lead to allegations of assault, criminal damage or possession of a weapon from the same incident. Bail conditions may restrict who you can contact or prevent you from going to certain places while the investigation continues.
Where injury is alleged, we consider any connected assault, ABH or GBH charge alongside the public order offence and the role attributed to you.
A short clip may omit important context, but it may also be supported by other cameras or witnesses. Saying you were only present needs to be considered against any conduct alleged to show participation. Self-defence must address the force used and the circumstances rather than simply point to aggression by someone else. We examine each person's attributed actions and avoid advancing a group account that is inconsistent with your own instructions or the evidence.
When several people have been arrested after the same incident, accounts can quickly become mixed together. We focus on your position, what you are accused of doing and the evidence said to show your individual involvement.
We can stay involved from police interview through to court, review CCTV and witness evidence and deal with connected assault, criminal damage or weapons allegations as part of the same case. That helps keep the preparation consistent as the case moves forward.
A case involving one short incident may need less preparation than proceedings with multiple defendants and hours of footage. We explain the proposed costs of evidence review, hearings and advocacy, together with VAT where applicable and any expert expenses. Separate allegations or a move to the Crown Court can change the scope, and any compensation, prosecution costs or surcharge following conviction is distinct from our fees.
We do not accept legal aid instructions. If you choose our firm, we will agree our fees with you before substantive work begins.
Public Order FAQs
Common questions about affray, violent disorder, CCTV, connected charges, bail and costs.
Police may use local authority CCTV, venue footage, mobile recordings, social-media clips and body-worn video. In a group case, the footage said to show your individual involvement needs to be identified.
Public order offences are not limited to incidents in a town centre or street. The precise offence and circumstances need to be considered, including where the incident took place and what conduct is alleged.
Yes. A public order charge can sit alongside assault where a particular person is alleged to have been attacked or injured. The connected allegations should be prepared together.
A separate weapons offence may also be investigated or charged. We can review the item, circumstances of recovery and the wider public order evidence together.
Yes. We can explain conditions affecting contact, movement or particular locations and advise on the correct process if a variation needs to be considered. The application should explain the practical difficulty and propose workable alternatives; the existing conditions remain in force unless formally changed.
Being present at an incident does not by itself explain what the police allege you personally did. We review the evidence said to show your involvement and the role attributed to you.
That depends on the precise charge and seriousness. More serious public order allegations can proceed to the Crown Court, while other cases are dealt with in the Magistrates' Court.
Fees depend on the stage your case has reached, the volume of CCTV and other evidence, the number of hearings and whether the case proceeds to trial or Crown Court. We can explain the likely costs before you decide to instruct us.
That depends on the offence. Some public order offences can concern words, while affray has specific requirements and a threat cannot be made by words alone for that offence. We examine the exact charge, conduct and statutory test before advising whether the evidence is capable of supporting it.
It can be relevant, but the court considers your own conduct, the circumstances as you believed them and the reasonableness of the force used. Someone else's aggression does not automatically justify everything that follows. The full footage and witness sequence may be important in distinguishing defensive action from retaliation.
If you have been arrested, asked to attend an interview or already have a court date, speak to us about what happened and where your case currently stands. We can explain the next steps, how we can help and the likely costs before you decide how to proceed.
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.