Hello people, I hope you can help me. Today I received a letter from a magistrates court summoning me to court for traveling on a bus using an expired bus ticket. The company is Nexus (Go north east) and included in the letter is a statement of facts, and witness statement written by the driver. The facts statement says that I : 1) traveled on a bus operated by go north east on that date 2) that during the course of the journey I was asked to produce a valid ticket for the journey now been (sic) taken (meant to say "being" i think) 3) I was unable to show a valid pass, but did show an expired pass which was not valid for travel on that day. In reality, this is what actually happened. 1)I boarded a bus, and showed the driver my pass, I GENUINELY did not realise it was my expired pass 2) he told me it was expired so I apologised to the driver and he confiscated my pass. 3) I then asked how much the fare was for the journey, but I did not have enough money for the fare 4) I apologised and LEFT the bus WITHOUT MAKING ANY JOURNEY. let me reitterate, the journey to which they refer to several times in the statement of facts never took place, I never travelled on the bus, the bus did not move 1 inch while this was going on So my question is, can I use this information as a viable defense? Is it worth writing to the bus company asking them to drop the case based on this? Or is it worth making taking it all the way and making a not guilty plea and defending myself in court? I am furious about this, and have read the laws under which they allege the offence was commited and everything I have read points to the offence being TRAVELLING without a valid ticket, which I clearly did not do I hope someone can help, its my birthday tomorrow and this is STRESSING me out to no end thanks

okay so my 16+ oyster just expired and i still havent received my new one. So i got on one of the bendy buses and didnt pay, because i am eligible for free travel on buses anyway, and what do you know, an inspector came on! Even after explaining to him that i havent received my new one, and i wouldnt have had to pay, he gave me a fine. I've just moved house, so i gave him my old address because i found it unfair to get a £25/50 fine for a journey i wouldnt usually have to pay for. Can they trace me? I gave them my real name, but wrong address. HELP please.

Hi, I am new to this forum and have been reading through some previous threads so hoping you can offer me some advice.. I recently (Saturday 7th Aug) received a distress warrant from Philips recovery agents..When I opened it I was obviously shocked as I had no idea what it was for or about.. I called Philips to enquire about it and the only information they could provide me with was that it dated back to an unpaid Magistrates Fine instructed by HMCS NW London dating back to November 2008. I called the HMCS on Monday (09th August) as I was still puzzled by this and as I previously mentioned had not received any prior communication about the matter until now. I spoke with a very helpful Area Enforcement Officer and he explained to me that it was for a bus fine dating back to May 08 that was unpaid and then went to court on November 2008. I asked him why I had only received the Distress Warrant now and nothing previous. He explained that all previous communication had been sent to an address (in which I no longer live, nor have lived in for over 2 years) they had now since traced me and thus sent the Distress Warrant to my current address. He put the Distress Warrant on hold temporarily to allow me to sort it out. I am now trying to determine what my next course of action should be. I have been advised to go to court to make a Statutory Declaration..stating that I was unaware of the court summons dating back to Nov 2008. Is this advisable? What will making the stat dec do for me? I really want to get this sorted out but I am also concerned that an original £20 bus fine is now a £200 matter of which I knew nothing about up until Saturday!! (I do remember the offence, the inspector told me that the fine "may or may not be issued" so I thought nothing more of it) Whats more - I provided the correct identity details/address but I happened to move from that address shortly after.. Any help or advice would be much appreciated. Many thanks!