Motoring Offences - Staff Profiles
Caroline studied in Coventry and graduated with an honours degree in business law, and then became an articled clerk in Uxbridge where her interests moved towards criminal law. During this training period,
Caroline also worked in the civil law department of that firm, but most of her work was on high-value criminal cases such as drug importations, money-laundering, firearms and murder.
In 1992 Caroline qualified as a solicitor, and in 1993 moved to Bailey Gibson in Burnham High Street. Here Caroline continued working on serious cases including a high-profile murder that was covered by the media, multiple rapes, large quantity drug importations, and it would be difficult to list the offences of which she has no experience. Caroline became the head of the crime department at Bailey Gibson.
In addition to these areas, Caroline developed much road-traffic expertise, through preparing defences for most driving offences, and this included many high-profile defendants.
In this time Caroline had a high success rate with a great many ‘exceptional hardship’ arguments not to disqualify drivers, and also cases where the ‘special reasons’ arguing against endorsement of a licence were accepted. Caroline believes that in these and every case “the secret to success is thorough preparation”.
Caroline joined Chebsey & Co. in 2006 as the Head of the Crime and Regulatory Department to build and expand the department within new offices in Burnham High Street. She is a member of the local Police Station Duty Solicitor Scheme that provides 24-hour police station advice to suspects, and has been so since 1990. Caroline is also a Magistrates’ Court Duty Solicitor, where she advises clients charged in relation to the whole range of criminal offences.
In 2006, Caroline obtained her Higher Rights of Audience in Criminal Proceedings and has appeared in the Crown Court as an advocate in relation to various serious offences.
On 1st August 2009 Chebsey & Co. became a company, and Caroline was appointed a Director.
Throughout her career Caroline has developed a particular interest and skill in advising vulnerable suspects and defendants, such as those with serious mental health issues, and has defended such people in a variety of cases including murder.
Caroline and her assistant, Pat Hayman, have worked together since 1993.
Caroline’s main interests include reading, which includes both fiction and non-fiction. She is also a member of a book group, and keeps an allotment.
Contact Details:-
Tel: 01628 600850
Email: cad@chebsey.com
Having graduated from Southampton University with an Honours degree in Law in 1994 Graham has developed an expertise in defending Road Traffic cases. He believes that a professional approach to preparation and attention to detail are essential in securing the best possible results for the client. He often helps people to keep their driving licence when they are at risk of losing it through having totted up 12 or more penalty points. People also often need help to apply for a disqualification to be lifted after they have had their driving licence taken away. Sometimes a carefully prepared plea in mitigation is needed to ensure the lightest possible penalty is imposed by the Court.
Notable Cases:
In R v. S Graham successfully defended a client who faced charges of failing to stop and failing to report after an accident before High Wycombe Magistrates Court. The evidence provided by a PCSO was discredited by his inconsistent account under cross-examination and his client was found not guilty.
In R v. K Graham successfully persuaded Bicester Magistrates Court to allow a taxi driver to keep his licence despite his having totted up 12 penalty points. The exceptional hardship his family were likely to suffer was decisive.
Outside Interests:
Graham scuba-dives, and has dived all over the world. He also loves travelling, having recently completed a trip to Everest Base Camp.
Contact Details:-
Tel: 01628 600850
Email: gst@chebsey.com
John has wide ranging legal experience which started aged 18 when he joined Her Majesty’s Courts Service, where he stayed for 17 years and worked his way up to Principal Court clerk. During the latter part of his career in the court service he met Keith Chebsey, who was at that time also a Principal in the Cornish court service.
From 1987-2007 John served as a police officer in the Thames Valley Police and during this time decided it would be a good idea to refresh his legal knowledge. John read for his law degree in his spare time with the external programme of London University, graduating in 2000.
From 2000 to 2002 John was seconded by his Chief Constable to the post of Community Safety Director with the Thames Valley Partnership, a charity working in the field of crime reduction. The work was varied ranging from giving advice to the Home Office and other government agencies on crime reduction, to practical programmes to divert young people away from offending.
On retiring from the police in 2007 John rejoined his former colleague Keith, this time with Chebsey & Co, bringing his varied skills and knowledge that have been of great benefit to our clients. His expertise in police procedure and practice is put to use throughout case preparation, for example through investigation, the tracing of additional witnesses and crime scene photography. Such expertise from the policing perspective is a rare asset within criminal defence solicitors.
If it is a case of licence penalty points following a series of minor offences the consequences for a client can still be serious as loss of a driving licence can lead to problems staying in a job or running a business, not to mention increased insurance premiums. He adds, "Loss of your licence is not inevitable, often we can help and persuade the court not to impose disqualification."
John’s other areas of expertise include various aspects of regulatory law such as industrial standards e.g. CEN, ISO and Personal Protective Equipment.
In addition to his work for Chebsey & Co., John is an expert in matters related to motorcycle engineering and he has been a motorcyclist for over forty years. In his twenties and thirties he was a competitor in amateur motorcycle racing and now advises the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme the world governing body for professional motorcycle sports.
John is a technical expert on road safety and represents the FIM to various institutions in Europe, including the European Transport Safety Council, the European Commission and the United Nations Road Safety Forum in Geneva.
Contact Details:-
Tel: 01628 600850
Email: jcr@chebsey.com
