Avoiding a train fare - court advice

[CharisMarie]

During my Easter break (whilst at home from university) I boarded a train from Redcar to Middlesbrough, and with my railcard this journey was £2.30. Unknown to me at the time, my bank cards do not work offline, and so would not work in the train conductors card machine. I then filled out the appropriate paperwork with the intention of paying the fare by phone.

 

I rang the northern rail payment service to pay the fare the next day and was informed by the lady on the phone that they had not received the bill yet, and that she would write it in the records that I had attempted to pay the fare.

 

The next day I returned to university in London for my Summer exams, and consequently forgot all about the fare, and also received none of the reminder letters as they went to my home address in Redcar.

On returning home from university I realised the time that I had to pay the fare had passed, and had a letter stating I needed to pay an £80 fine, or that I could appeal this fine.

 

I appealed by post, and a few weeks later (when I was away for the week) northern rail rang my home number and a lady over the phone told my mum that I would receive a court date, when asked about the appeal the woman replied that they hadn't received an appeal, only to then say that she had fount it, but that the matter had gone too far now and they would take me to court.

 

So my hearing is on the 8th November, and according to the letter I can either plead guilty and pay the £100 court cost or plead not guilty to fare evasion and attend a hearing and then a trial.

 

So far my intention is to plead not guilty, as obviously I have attempted to pay the fare and to appeal the fine, and so pleading guilty to fare evasion seems unjust to me. But do you think I have a chance of winning the case? And if I attempt to would this end up costing me even more?

Many thanks, Charis.

Edited October 31, 2013 by CharisMarie

[firstclassx]

During my Easter break (whilst at home from university) I boarded a train from Redcar to Middlesbrough, and with my railcard this journey was £2.30. Unknown to me at the time, my bank cards do not work offline, and so would not work in the train conductors card machine. I then filled out the appropriate paperwork with the intention of paying the fare by phone.

 

I rang the northern rail payment service to pay the fare the next day and was informed by the lady on the phone that they had not received the bill yet, and that she would write it in the records that I had attempted to pay the fare.

 

The next day I returned to university in London for my Summer exams, and consequently forgot all about the fare, and also received none of the reminder letters as they went to my home address in Redcar.

On returning home from university I realised the time that I had to pay the fare had passed, and had a letter stating I needed to pay an £80 fine, or that I could appeal this fine.

 

I appealed by post, and a few weeks later (when I was away for the week) northern rail rang my home number and a lady over the phone told my mum that I would receive a court date, when asked about the appeal the woman replied that they hadn't received an appeal, only to then say that she had fount it, but that the matter had gone too far now and they would take me to court.

 

So my hearing is on the 8th November, and according to the letter I can either plead guilty and pay the £100 court cost or plead not guilty to fare evasion and attend a hearing and then a trial.

 

So far my intention is to plead not guilty, as obviously I have attempted to pay the fare and to appeal the fine, and so pleading guilty to fare evasion seems unjust to me. But do you think I have a chance of winning the case? And if I attempt to would this end up costing me even more?

Many thanks, Charis.

 

You need to plead guilty unfortunately or things are going to get worse. You have committed an offence.

 

1) You failed to pay at the ticket office at Redcar; (this is an offence by itself, Railway Byelaw 18)

2) The card you tried to use was declined (it is not the TOCs concern/fault that your bank does not allow offline transactions);

3) You failed to pay the £80 penalty, which would have avoided court, even when your appeal was correctly rejected. Even still, it is completely optional whether they allow you settle out of court - as you have found out, it is a serious matter.

 

So the way I see it, you boarded a train without a valid means of payment, after failing to pay at the station, then "forgot" about the matter until it was too late.

 

I know this sounds critical and harsh, but it is how the court and TOC will see it.

 

You will probably not be prosecuted for INTENTIONALLY AVOIDING A FARE, you will be prosecuted for failing to buy a ticket prior to boarding.

 

 

(1) In any area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, no person shall enter

any train for the purpose of travelling on the railway unless he has with him a

valid ticket entitling him to travel.

 

 

Now APPROXIMATELY (!!) -

 

If you plead GUILTY, the result will be :

Court costs £100

Fine of around £200-£350

Victim surcharge of £20-£35

Compensation to Northern rail, which will be the Anytime Single rail fare

 

If you plead NOT GUILTY, but are found GUILTY by the court, the result will be:

Court Costs £100

Fine of around £300-£500

Victim surcharge of £30-50

Compensation to Northern rail, which will be the Anytime Single rail fare

Edited October 31, 2013 by firstclassx

[honeybee13]

Hello there.

 

I know it's possible to negotiate right up to and including the day of the hearing. Have you rung them recently?

 

The guys know more than I do, but I think it might be worth a phone call to try to explain what's gone wrong since you rang and tried to pay the fare. What did you say in your appeal by letter please?

 

My best, HB

[CharisMarie]

Thankyou for your reply.

Just to clarify, Redcar east is not a manned station/has no ticket office/has no ticket machine which you can use railcards on, there is always a ticket conductor on these trains to Middlesbrough. I didn't think it was the law to purchase a ticket before boarding on these trains?

I was also not informed about the appeal, I was not updated except to say that I was being sent a court date because they seemed to have 'found' my appeal too late?

As I did not receive any of the letter from northern rail until too late, can I somehow prove this and will it work in my favour?

Thanks again, Charis.

Edited October 31, 2013 by CharisMarie

[honeybee13]

Hello again.

 

I'm afraid railway rules say it's the passenger's responsibility to find a member of staff to pay if they get onto a train without a ticket, rather than waiting to be asked. I think if you go down that route it could cause you more problems.

 

HB

[firstclassx]

The problem remains that you boarded a train without any (valid) means to pay the fare that was legally due.

 

It is essentially boarding a train without any money.

 

It is up to you to determine what debit/credit card facilities your bank issues, and the limitations these have, it is not up to the railway company to manage your financial situation.

 

The bank declined your card - because they don't trust/allow you to make transactions without it being instantly verified that you actually have the money in your account.

[BarleyGB]

Honeybee is right, you can try and reach a settlement before and up to the court date. I would suggest trying to contact the rail companies prosecution team ASAP. Phone and apologise and offer to pay their costs (could cost you £200+), if that doesn't work have a word with the prosecuted in court and offer to settle (have enough cash & cheque book with you)

 

It's going to cost you a bit so accept that but better to settle than the potential for a criminal record.

[Old-CodJA]

Thankyou for your reply.

Just to clarify, Redcar east is not a manned station/has no ticket office/has no ticket machine which you can use railcards on, there is always a ticket conductor on these trains to Middlesbrough. I didn't think it was the law to purchase a ticket before boarding on these trains?

I was also not informed about the appeal, I was not updated except to say that I was being sent a court date because they seemed to have 'found' my appeal too late?

As I did not receive any of the letter from northern rail until too late, can I somehow prove this and will it work in my favour?

Thanks again, Charis.

 

 

Whilst it is correct to say that you boarded without a valid ticket and without the acceptable means to pay the fare due, the charge of offending contrary to Byelaw 18.1 (2005) has not been summonsed and would be irrelevant if what you have told us is correct, there is a fair chance that you may be able to convince Northern to settle this in my opinion.

 

It appears from your original post that you have been charged with 'intending to avoid a fare' contrary to Section 5 of the Regulation of Railways Act (1889) and given that you had failed to respond to the letter in good time, you might be pressed in Court to confirm that you had no communication channel between home & uni whilst away. The prosecutor will be able to show that you knew you had not paid and did not hold a valid ticket, failed to pay when asked on train and failed to take the opportunity to pay when given a further opportunity by post.

 

You might try to contact the prosecutor's office and ask if they will accept payment of the full fare plus all of the costs that they have incurred in bringing this matter to Court in order to resolve the case without Court action so as to 'protect your good name'. Your request should cite the fact that you have no previous offences (if that is true) and that a conviction at this stage of your life will have a disproportionate effect on your career. You will need to apologise to the company & staff concerned, express sincere remorse and give a written undertaking never to travel without a valid ticket again.

 

If successful you will need to pay any sum that they advise immediately.

 

The company is not obliged to agree, but given what you have told us and provided that there were no aggravating factors (such as arguing with rail staff or using abusive language at the time, or any other factors that you haven't mentioned ) you lose nothing by trying.

 

The Rail Company can say no, so be prepared for rejection and the likelihood of a financial penalty along the lines of that described by firstclassx, but if you are successful in trying there will be no fine and no record of conviction.

 

You might also like to write to the Court to advise that you have asked the Rail Company to consider your written request and make sure that you send both letters by recorded delivery. You must do it straight away.

 

If you persist with a 'not guilty' plea the case will be adjourned to a later date for trial and if you are found guilty at trial you will lose credit for an early acceptance of your guilt. The suggestion I have given is the best option you have of minimising risk and subsequent cost at this very late stage.

Edited November 1, 2013 by Old-CodJA