Legal Comment

Can Cyclists And Motorists Learn To Live Together?

Can Cyclists And Motorists Learn To Live Together?

Nick Freeman, owner of Manchester based legal practice Freeman & Co and is best known as `Mr Loophole` a celebrity defence lawyer specialising in road and motoring offences. There`s an awful lot of bad blood between cyclists and motorists these days. Where once road space was shared in relative harmony, co-existence has mutated into a toxic game of chicken and egg. One in which each side claims absolute entitlement whilst robustly condemning the other for their impact on road safety. On the one hand, you`ve got cyclists singing ten bars…Read more
Mr Loophole Backs East Yorkshire Motorist In Fight Against Hull Bus Lane Fine

Mr Loophole Backs East Yorkshire Motorist In Fight Against Hull Bus Lane Fine

The country’s best-known traffic lawyer is backing a motorist’s fight against a bus lane fine imposed by Hull City Council. Thirty-six-year-old Tony Sherwin contacted Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, via social media after being fined £30 for driving in the bus lane on Holderness Road to visit a supermarket. Mr Sherwin appealed the fine, which he lost, and has subsequently lodged a complaint with the Traffic Penalty Tribunal. Earlier this year Tesco changed the entrance and exit to its Tesco Express store, meaning that motorists are now forced to enter…Read more
“All Randox Cases Must Be Reviewed Now”, Demands Mr Loophole!

“All Randox Cases Must Be Reviewed Now”, Demands Mr Loophole!

Commenting on the news that data relating to more than 6,000 samples tested at Randox Testing Service’s Manchester site may have been manipulated, criminal defence lawyer Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, said: “My worst fears have now been realised. I said last time that this could be the tip of the iceberg. Once a Government approved organisation, or its employees, has been found to have manipulated data, their credibility is shot, and every case in which they have been involved in forensic analysis should be the subject of an urgent…Read more
Nick Freeman Interviewed On BBC Over Hugill’s Law

Nick Freeman Interviewed On BBC Over Hugill’s Law

Kenneth Hugill is the 83-year-old farmer who was acquitted after just 24 minutes by a Hull jury when he faced a trial for GBH. Despite being acquitted, he faced huge legal costs that would have taken him decades to repay. Nick Freeman, AKA Mr Loophole, was so insensed by the injustice that he set up a Just Giving campaign to help Mr Hugill with his legal fees. In a short time, a massive amount of public support and donations meant that Mr Hugill could pay his legal fees with the…Read more
Mr Loophole Launches Petition Calling For Defendants Acquitted By The Courts To Recover Legal Fees

Mr Loophole Launches Petition Calling For Defendants Acquitted By The Courts To Recover Legal Fees

Lawyer Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, has launched an online petition calling for a reversal in the law which prevents defendants acquitted in the courts recovering their costs. In 2012, the law was changed without proper consultation, leading to hundreds of people each year facing financial ruin despite being cleared of the charges they were facing. Last week, 83-year-old North Yorkshire farmer Kenneth Hugill was cleared of GBH by a jury at Hull Crown Court. Despite him walking free, the pensioner – who has never been on the wrong side…Read more
Mr Loophole Launches Just Giving Page To Help Pay £30k Legal Fees Of 83-Year-Old Farmer Cleared Of GBH

Mr Loophole Launches Just Giving Page To Help Pay £30k Legal Fees Of 83-Year-Old Farmer Cleared Of GBH

Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, has launched a crowd funding page to help an 83-year-old farmer - who shot a convicted criminal he suspected of trying to steal diesel - pay his £30,000 court costs. A jury last week at Hull Crown Court took just 24-minutes to clear Kenneth Hugill of GBH, after the incident at his isolated East Yorkshire farmhouse, in November 2015. The court heard the man whom he shot in the foot has convictions for burglary, theft and possession of an offence weapon, and, at hospital, gave three different…Read more

Statement re “Killer drivers on mobiles to get life”

Responding to the news that the Government was considering introducing new legislation that see drivers receiving life sentences if convicted of killing someone whilst using a mobile phone, Nick Freeman, the country’s leading road traffic lawyer, said: “The new legislation is a dangerous route to go down as it could mean there is too much emphasis placed on the consequence of the driving as opposed to the driving itself. “In respect to death by dangerous driving, the current law is adequate, but it’s the sentencing guidelines that need to be…Read more

Figures Reveal Yawning Between Speeders Caught By Cameras Compared To Police Officers

Figures obtained by the country’s leading traffic lawyer reveal the yawning gulf between motorists caught speeding by fixed cameras, and those caught by uniformed traffic officers. The statistics – acquired by Nick Freeman, aka Mr Loophole, under the Freedom of Information of Act from six forces - comes the day after the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (Nice) called for even more average speed cameras to help reduce air pollution on the nation’s A roads. In 2011, Merseyside Police caught a total of 48,675 drivers for speeding -…Read more

New Bill Widens The Fairness Over Anonymity

I have always been a strong believer that the courts do not only exist to convict the guilty but are also there to free the innocent. As a fundamental right in this country, we are all presumed innocent until proven guilty. In reaching that difficult balance there has to be a level playing field, administered by dedicated legal professionals and each side coming to criminal litigation with an equality of arms. Over the past few years I have been publicly campaigning for defendants in sex cases to be afforded the same…Read more

Will Car Bullying Make Our Roads Like A School Playground

As a person who enjoys the pleasure of driving, I have followed the progress of the driverless car with both interest and a little trepidation. The first time many of us would have thought about the possibility of a driverless car was from watching science fiction films. I remember seeing the iconic Johnny Cab in Total Recall and thinking how dystopic [sic.] it all seemed. The idea of being driven by a robot. Preposterous. Let’s move on, not a few hundred years but a few decades and the press’ column…Read more