honeybee13; don't worry, it wasn't my last name. Sorry, I should have stated that. But it's a good example of the difference. The wrong name had been used in the court sentence.

The last name. ***son instead of ***set

! I have just noticed that the court summons was also address to the wrong name ! - Will the give me the ability to start an appeal to the Court Summons? .. Or will the criminal record not count against me as the name is wrong?

Old-CodJA I found the information in an old email. the court summons states: 1. That you on... did travel on the Railway without having previously paid and with intent to avoid payment thereof. Contray to 5.3(a) of the Regulatation of Railways Act 1889, as amended by the Transport Act 1962, ss 84(2) and 93(1), the British Railways Act, 1965, s35(5), the British Railways Act 1970, s18 and the British Railways Act 1977, sch 1.

..

I don't have the documents with me. But can you explain how this information might help, as it is unclear what could be done. As far as I can see, the only argument I have is that I was taken to court without the proper procedure being adhered to, i.e. The right to appeal and the strong arm use of the Railways Act without using discretion in light of the situation. After all, the using of the Railways Act to protect revenue should only be used on prolific offenders where damagers can not be claimed back through the small claims court.

Before I add more detail I just want to point out that I am only asking if people in this forum can help. If you can't help, it's OK, but please don't fill this thread with finger waving remarks. To add more detail that has been asked, here's a bit more. It had been raining hard that morning, so I decided not to ride into work. When I walked through the open gates in the station I had already waited up to 3minutes, which at the time I believed was the maximum you had to wait before the buying the ticket on the train. I understand now that this rule varies for different train companies. Because I had my bicycle with me I stood with my bike and waited for the conductor. By the time he was in my carriage he went straight to the intercom to call in the stop. I got off the train and walked up to the ticket inspector at the gate. I looked in my bag and found that I had forgotten my wallet. I told the ticket inspector why I didn't have my ticket. I offered to have a colleague come to pay the ticket and fine but the Ticket Inspector wouldn't accept. I told him my details and then he asked again for my wallet to provide my details. He didn't believe I didn't have my wallet and searched my bag. Then he said I was unable to give my details, and pay for my travel so I had to be prosecuted. He sent me to the Rail Policeman and then I had to sign a statement. I later found that I should have been told that I did not need to sign anything without a solicitor. I also found that discretion should be applied to people who are clearly not ticket evading. I was sent a letter from the Southeastern Protection Office asking me to verify the statement. Oddly, they addressed the letter with an odd spelling mistake though my witness statement had my details correct. I wrote a long reply with the full version of events and asking to pay the ticket and fine. I did not hear back. I have found documents that state southeastern should have made provisions for an appeal before prosecution in there Penalty Fare Scheme documentation. I was then sent a Court Summons. When I received the court verdict, I wrote to the Southeastern Protection Office, marked urgent as I wanted to apply a court appeal within the 21days. I did not heard back from two letters. I then contacted Southeastern Customer Relations, I have been given the run around ever since, more than 6months after the court verdict. The only information I have been able to find has been on forums and it has taken a lot of effort, piecing together fragments of hearsay and documents, to really understand what I had been charged with and understanding my rights. This is why I only want sensible help in this thread, as the information will stand as a history for other victims of the section 130 of the Railways Act 1993 to understand what is happening to them and what options they have available if they are in a similar situation.

Thank you very much HoneyBee13. I'm just getting the hang of this forum.

Hi Old-CodJA. It's the OP here(...?). So, you think my only solution is to launch a high risk appeal to the magistrates court again my initial conviction. Thank you for your advice.

Please Old-CodJA, none of that was helpful. Please don't fill up this thread with silly finger waving. I put the post up for advice. Please respect that.

Markl1987: What's your reason for pointing that obvious observation out?

Bandit127: I'm not looking for sympathy, just good advice for the questions I asked.

Hello. I'm not sure if you can help me but I haven't been able to find any help so far, so I hope you can. I boarded a southeastern train. There was a large group of people at the ticket office and ticket machine, but the gates were open. However, when I got to my stop the there was a ticket evasion operation in progress. And here's the snag. I had also forgotten my wallet. Unable to confirm my details, provide a ticket, or pay for the fine, I was made to write a witness statement. I was then sent a prosecution notice. Then a court summons. I am suffering from anxiety (I'm taking medication) and did not attend court. I now have a criminal record. From what I understand, discretion should have been used before using the section 130 of the Railways Act 1993 to take me to a criminal court. I was unable to pay the penalty fare due to not having my wallet and I was not given the opportunity to pay a fine at any other time. I did, however, offer to have the money sent to the station but the ticket collector would not accept this offer. I feel that at the very least, this was an overuse of the section 130 of the Railways Act 1993, and it has cause a huge amount of personal damage compared to the £4.60 ticket that I unknowingly stole.