Worried please help/ British Transport Police

[the_doc]

The issue of asking for a discharge is one of those 'advocacy' questions.

 

You have to plant the seed of considering a discharge, without directly asking for it. I think (and only trying it would tell) that if you march into Court, tell them that they should give you an absolute or conditional discharge, the Magistrates may well say 'no, £175 fine, £110 costs and £10 compensation.'

 

However, if you explain to the Court that you are hard up, andyou have spoken to 'advisers' who have told you that you would have to pay for a proper solicitor, and, as a first time offender, you don't really know what procedures are, you could explain that someone had told you that the Court can give an absolute discharge. It plants the seed without you asking.

 

This is part of the danger of taking 'on-line' advice. If I am wrong, or if another 'reader' mis-understands what I am trying to say, it is 'you' that will suffer, with no comeback against 'me' for my comments. I don't know the Magistrates who will hear this case. I don't know how they reacted to the last bit of similar naughtiness. I cannot see what they look like. Or what you look like, for that matter.

 

completely understood re this is only advise.

 

truth is I cannot afford a solicitor but I am by no means broke.

 

I will plant the seed on honest grounds cause i did actually consult a solic over phone and basically did realsie would cost me too much money for something I would be fined for anyway

[Wriggler7]

I was involved with a case of 'public peeing' brought under the good old Essex Good Rule and Management Orders (For the life of me, I can't remember the enabling Act) many years ago. The father of the accused was a local business man, Round Table, Lions and so on.

 

Te accused had been in 'a club', where both the booze and the birds were cheap. At the end of the night, as was always the case, there were bus loads of Special Constables and a handful of 'regular' officers outside. Drunkenness all around, swearing, pushing and shoving, and the odd bit of pugilism.

 

The 'lad' wandered away from the crowd, he could see that some things were going 'badly'. He avoided the punch ups, but the cold night air affected his bladder as much as the beer had fogged his judgement. He stepped into a rose bush (anybody ever read Tom Sharpe? He must have got the idea from somewhere) and did 'what he had to do'.

 

Stepping from the bush, he found two rotund special constables, who promptly arrested him for 'D&D'.

 

Dad was called, and somehow I was caused to attend the 'nick'. Charge room sergeant (No CPS in those days!) decided that 'D&D' was a tad harsh, as every person leaving the club was 'D' and 90% of them were disorderly. The lesser charge was laid, dad took son home. I think it cost him £25.00 at Billericay Magistrates.

 

In the grand scheme of things, there were many worse things happening outside that club that night, never mind all of the other general villainy that took place in the rest of the town.

[the_doc]

That's the best bit of advice anyone can give in my opinion.

 

It isn't a major offence, in my opinion it is damned silly and inconsiderate, others may take a different view, but it isn't going to have earth shattering consequences if you deal with it rationally and are polite, say sorry, take the punishment (if any) in a mature manner, then move on.

 

I thought I'd better add, that obviously doesn't mean it shouldn't be taken seriously, in my book it is the failure to deal with minor antisocial activities firmly that allows the proliferation of such actions. If there is a minor stigma attached that prevents a repeat, then that's all part of life's learning curve.

 

I'm sorry if that offends anyone, it is purely a personal opinion and as others have pointed out many times, that's all any of these posts are really.

.

 

understood

[the_doc]

Absolute discharge

 

So relieved

 

More to follow

[dx100uk]

 

dx

[Old-CodJA]

Absolute discharge

 

So relieved

 

Was the humour intentional??? :wink:

[the_doc]

No but worth a laugh?

 

As I said more details to follow would like to thank all for their help especially old_codger wriggler7 and SPRO(spelling) when he is not grumpy.