Burglary

Burglary is a complex criminal offence that involves elements of trespass and in some cases (but not all) stealing.

Our Burglary Solicitors will help you navigate police interviews, bail, and attending Court.

By instructing us, you will immediately feel reassured and confident that you have one of the most experienced, talented criminal law teams in Coventry and Warwickshire on your side.

We are a diverse, multi-lingual law firm based in Coventry, our solicitors use best-in-class technology to provide clients with a streamlined, modern, and highly effective criminal defence. Furthermore, years of experience in criminal law means we have created relationships with some of the UK’s best Barristers and King’s Counsel. Our clients also benefit from our ability to instruct the country’s most respected expert witnesses who can provide the Court with the facts required to support a not guilty plea or mitigate the sentence handed down by a Judge.

Advising and representing people accused of committing a criminal offence

Based in Coventry, we are highly recommended as an expert criminal defence law firm for people accused of committing a crime. Our Coventry and Midland based solicitors provide 24/7 police station representation. Therefore, will be at your side, protecting your interests from the start. Because we understand the correct procedure the police must follow when making an arrest, we will carefully examine the circumstances surrounding you being detained and get the charges dropped if proper processes were not complied with.

Our criminal law team has in-depth experience in defending serious criminal charges, including burglary. We work with the country’s top expert witnesses and focus on providing you with advice and representation you can trust. We know that your reputation, your freedom, and your family’s financial security is at stake – therefore, we never give up until every appeal has been exhausted.

Below are several common questions clients ask us concerning burglary.

What is burglary?

Although they are sometimes used interchangeably, burglary, robbery, and theft are different offences.

Burglary involves entering a building as a trespasser with intent to steal, inflict grievous bodily harm or do unlawful damage to the building, or having entered the building as a trespasser stealing or attempting to steal or inflicting or attempting to inflict grievous bodily harm.

To prove burglary, the Prosecution must show:

You entered the building;
That it is a building or part of a building;
You did so as a trespasser;
You did so with the intention of stealing or inflicting Grievous Bodily Harm.

Robbery involves stealing someone’s property but with a degree of violence, i.e A threatens B with a knife and demands B hands over their wallet.

Theft is where a person dishonestly takes property belonging to another with the intention of permanently depriving the other of it. For instance, the act of shoplifting is depriving the store owner of items that, until they are sold, belong to them.

What is domestic burglary?

Domestic burglary is the burglary of a domestic dwelling. Domestic burglary does not include the stealing of property by someone who was entitled to be in the dwelling at the time the offence occurred (for example, a guest or tradesperson); this falls under the category of theft.

What is aggravated burglary?

Aggravated burglary is when a person commits burglary and has an offensive weapon in their possession at the time of the offence. The Prosecution must prove the elements of the burglary offence before any aspects of aggravation can be considered.

An offensive weapon is any object that is made, can be adapted or is intended to cause injury to a person or incapacitate them. Firearms are an offensive weapon as are knives, baseball bats, and bottles filled with corrosive substances such as acid to name but a few.

What is the sentence if I am convicted of burglary?

Domestic burglary can be tried in the Crown Court and the Magistrates’ Court except in the following circumstances:

The burglary was part of the commission of, or an intention to commit an offence which is triable only on indictment, for example, murder or rape; or
Any person in the dwelling was subjected to violence or the threat of violence; or
You have been convicted of burglary twice before.

Aggravated burglary can only be tried in the Crown Court.

The maximum sentence for domestic burglary is 14 years imprisonment. If the burglary was committed in any other building apart from a dwelling, the maximum custodial sentence is 10 years.

Our Burglary Solicitors have the expertise and experience to set out any mitigating factors to the sentencing Judge that can result in your sentence being reduced.

Why choose us?

Regardless of the charges against you, you are entitled to a criminal defence. We do not judge our clients; our only objective is to defend you against the Prosecution’s allegations. You can be confident that by instructing us to defend you, your chances of acquittal or a reduced sentence are greatly improved. The most important factor is to contact us as soon as you become aware of the criminal charges brought against you.

People choose and recommend us not just in Coventry, Rugby and Leamington, but across the Midlands and the whole of the UK.

To receive expert advice and if you have been charged with burglary, please contact us using the form below.