South Western Trains Vs Me

[Ashley.S]

Hello everyone, fist time here!
Basically I was caught on a South West Trains train from Sunbury to Wimbledon with a monthly ticket from New Malden to Wimbledon (which only covered me for the last 3 station of a 10 station trip). I was caught on the train NOT between New Malden to Wimbledon. I was cautioned by a revenue protection inspector and have now received a Court Summons.
I am admitting the offence but just have a few questions for you guys.

1. I have a witness statement from the revenue protection inspector which is full of spelling and grammatical errors. Is this a legal document? How will it stand up in court?

2. I have the option NOT to attend court (which was a request by South West Trains). Would it be better NOT to attend court and let them get it over and done with OR attend court to make sure I can stand my corner.

3. this incident occurred on 30th October 2012, it is now 15th March 2013, that's almost 5 months. is this normal to take so long?

Ill be happy to answer any questions you have for me.

Thank you for reading!
Ashley

 

[Mojo]

1. I have a witness statement from the revenue protection inspector which is full of spelling and grammatical errors. Is this a legal document? How will it stand up in court?

The company's solicitor/prosecutor/court advocate (or whatever title the person who goes to court has) will read a summary of the statement to the Magistrates or District Judge so I doubt its credibility will be called into question as its unlikely anyone external to SWT will even read it.

2. I have the option NOT to attend court (which was a request by South West Trains). Would it be better NOT to attend court and let them get it over and done with OR attend court to make sure I can stand my corner.

It depends if you've got anything going on on the date of court and if it's convenient for you to attend. There will only be a trial if you plead ''not guilty,'' but a Magistrate or the District Judge may ask you a few questions before sentencing. An apology/explanation may work in your favour but this could also equally be written in a letter, which will be read out by the Court Clerk for your mitigation.

3. this incident occurred on 30th October 2012, it is now 15th March 2013, that's almost 5 months. is this normal to take so long?

It depends on the company but this is still within the 6 Month time limit.

 

[bb21]

Would it be better NOT to attend court and let them get it over and done with OR attend court to make sure I can stand my corner.

If you are pleading guilty (which is what I gather from what you have said) then what do you mean by "stand my corner"?

What legislation are you being prosecuted under?

 

[Ashley.S]

Sorry for the delay,
@Mojo
Thank you for your words of wisdom!

@bb21
i havent been to court before so I'm not 100% sure what to except. by standing my corner I mean I don't want SWT to give the impression to the judge that I'm a low life and I can show the judge that I'm sorry.
I'm not sure what legislation im being prosecuted under.

Thanks
Ashley

 

[martin2345uk]

Sorry for the delay,

I'm not sure what legislation im being prosecuted under.

Does it not say on the document you've received?

 

[michael769]

You have the right to address the court on your own behalf after a guilty plea. If you decide to do this inform the clerk before the trial starts and he will inform the magistrate.

You can as mentioned send a letter. There are pros and cons to both, appearing in person can be percieved as being more sincere, but does depend on how you present yourself and what you say. On the downside it also gives you an opportunity to make yourself look really bad.

Do keep in mind that what you say will have a material impact on the severity of the sentence that is handed out. It is better to keep what you say short and limited to the matter in hand, a long waffly ramble fll of irrelevant details will just make the magisrate switch off (they really have heard it all before, probably several times that very day). Avoid criticising the defence or their witnesses this can be seen as you not having learned your lesson - which can result in them deciding to make sure that you do.

You will not normally be asked any questions, but the magistrates will sometimes interrupt if you go seriously off topic.

How you dress is important, if you look like 90% of the criminals they deal with guess what impression they will form about you? The old phrase "suited and booted" pretty much sums up ow you should dress, it should not make a difference but often does!

It can be a good idea to visit the court in advance and sit in on a few trials (most are open to the public) so that you get an idea what to expect on the day.

The summons must detail what offence(s) you are being prosecuted for.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

If there is a Summons to appear in Court, then, although it may not specify the Act, it will specify the Offence. From that, most of us on here (and/or a Google search) would recognise which Act the alleged Offence is in.

It's not of much relevance to the OP to know what legislation it falls under other than the distinction between a Criminal Offence or a Byelaw Offence (the former carrying heavier penalties and resulting in a Criminal Record).

If you felt inclined to attend Court by yourself to make any plea of mitigation (good character, no income, etc.) then I'd suggest also going along on an earlier date to sit through a few other people's cases first, as a member of the public. That will help you to recognise the terms to use, the layout of the Court, the sort of things that other defendants say that are noted, the times to speak up, etc. [EDIT. I see that Michael769 has just made a similar point!]

There won't be a Judge (only exceptionally will a District Judge hear such matters). It will be heard in front of 3 lay Magistrates from the local community, guided by their professional Clerk.
There's probably nothing to be gained by attending if it is a Byelaw Offence.

 

[Urban Gateline]

Ashley.S, have you done this before?

I have absolutely no sympathy for someone intending to avoid paying the full fare due for their Journey, it is quite possible that you have been doing this for a couple of months/years without getting caught, and now you are looking at technicalities to try to lessen the punishment (which will not work in this case!)

The Shepperton line, which is the route in question, has no ticket barriers except Kingston and Norbiton, however there are ticket offices at nearly all every single station on the line and certainly at least one TVM at every station, so there is no excuse not to buy the extension before you started the journey! For this reason I would think the Regulation of Railways Act 5.3a is the more appropriate legislation for prosecution in this case.

 

[455driver]

What UG said.

I wonder where the OP lives?

If it isnt New Malden but the OP using a monthly season from there then that may show intent to defraud so SWT may be going in all guns blazing.

 

[Stigy]

1. I have a witness statement from the revenue protection inspector which is full of spelling and grammatical errors. Is this a legal document? How will it stand up in court?

2. I have the option NOT to attend court (which was a request by South West Trains). Would it be better NOT to attend court and let them get it over and done with OR attend court to make sure I can stand my corner.

3. this incident occurred on 30th October 2012, it is now 15th March 2013, that's almost 5 months. is this normal to take so long?

Ill be happy to answer any questions you have for me.

Thank you for reading!
Ashley

Hi Ashley,

In response to your questions;

1) The only way this would be called in to question is if it changes the context of the report, which it probably won't have done to get this far (bearing in mind chances are at least three staff would have read the statement from the Prosecutions office). Also, if English isn't the RPI's first language, it's even more acceptable to have a statement written almost as they would be expected to speak if that makes sense? Even if the RPI is English, you could potentially add about 6-weeks to getting the report to the Prosecutor's office if it's sent back, so doing so for grammatical and/or spelling errors isn't usually necessary and could be seen as nit-picking so to speak. I'd love all statements to be written without error, but this isn't an ideal world, and statements would never get anywhere if we were to act in this way. It's also not school.

2) You don't have to attend court, and to be honest there's no point if you're pleading guilty. If there are mitigating circumstances you might like to advise the Magistrates of these in person, but other than that, you're looking at the same outcome regardless to be honest.

3) It's quite normal for this to take some months to be processed. In fact, an incident in October reaching court now, surprisingly maybe, is quite good going! As long as the TOC lays the matter with the court (ie; books it in) within 6-months, it's quite acceptable practice. It's not uncommon for a case to be heard until month 8 or 9 since the event!