There is a legal concept called the ‘Totality Principle’ that works in favour of a defendant when a number of matters are heard at the same time; he or she will receive a lesser overall sentence.
Dealing with offences in a piece-meal manner will do the client no favours. I attended the Magistrates’ Court yesterday to represent a client who received a more severe penalty because he failed to notify the court during a previous hearing of an outstanding offence. Had he been advised properly, he would have had all the matters dealt with in one go. There was little I could do to correct the situation; at the previous court hearing, a solicitor was advising him.
The moral of this tale is: get a quality lawyer on the first occasion; otherwise, you may be wrongly advised by a solicitor and end up receiving a more severe penalty.

I attend courts in Guildford, Surrey, and the Home Counties. I also appear in courts throughout England and Wales representing footballers.