The Times: Tragic outcome from feared rail fine

[itsjustmyjob]

This article is from 'The Times' today, which is behind a paywall.

The Times

(Also in The Sun if you wanted to read it there.)

I think this tragic story serves to remind us how genuinely worried some people are when they turn to this forum for help.

Times report:

Teenager who feared prison over rail fine killed himself

A “funny and outgoing” teenager hanged himself at home after being given a £600 rail fine and fearing that he would be sent to prison, an inquest heard.

Jamie Coulthard, 19, was fined for not paying for a train ticket, but became increasingly worried when the penalty rose after letters about missed payments were sent to the wrong address.

The coroner was told that on March 2 Mr Coulthard had been waiting at home in Chorley, Lancashire, to meet someone coming to buy a family car. He was found hanged by his mother, Tracy Woodcock, when she returned from work.

She told Preston coroner’s court that her son was “funny and outgoing” but was “very frustrated that he was unable to find a job that he wanted to do” and was “quite upset about the fine”. She added: “The letters had gone to a different address and by the time we realised it had built up to £600.”

The teenager, who had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), had attended the first hearing of his case at Preston magistrates’ court, but it was adjourned and he failed to turn up for his next appearance on February 1, where he was handed the largest fine in his absence.

“He really thought that he was going to have to go to prison and he was upset by it,” his mother said. “We did go to Preston once but they weren’t very helpful and it got adjourned because the prosecution didn’t turn up. All the time it was playing on his mind. I told him if it came to it that I would pay it for him and it was fine.”

Ms Woodcock said that her son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was five years old and took medication for ten years. She added: “He never said anything to me about suicide or self-harm. I don’t understand why he did it. It was totally unexpected.”

Mr Coulthard’s girlfriend of four years, Sarah Gibson, told the inquest that they had met online playing games and they were a “mutual support to each other”. She said that the night before his death they had been playing a computer game with friends over Skype and that he seemed “perfectly fine”. They had planned a trip to Comic Con, the videogames convention.

She added: “He was extremely worried about the rail fine and he didn’t know what to do about it. When he went to court and was then sent away he didn’t understand why and he was upset about it.”

Ms Gibson said that he used to self-harm frequently, adding: “He didn’t do it enough for everyone around him to notice, but he did cut his arms and hands. When we first met he gave me his penknife so he wouldn’t do it again and he hasn’t done it since. He wasn’t the type to do it for attention or anything, he was the type that if he was going to do something then he was going to do it.I think that’s why he didn’t contact me that day because he knew that I would talk him out of it.”

Richard Taylor, the area coroner, recorded a verdict of suicide. He said: “I have heard of a thoughtful young man who was upset that he was unable to find work, and upset about his outstanding fine. He clearly dwelled on the fine and thought he was going to be sent to prison despite reassurances.”

 

[najaB]

That is tragic and my heart goes out to his family. It highlights again how poor young people (young men especially) are at talking about their problems.

I beg of everyone who has a young person in their life: make a point of talking with them.

 

[Gareth Marston]

From several sources I've seen this story in it seems he had a lot of deep seated problems beyond the fare evasion case.

 

[Tetchytyke]

It's incredibly tragic, and a sign that it is never too late to ask for help.

Magistrates Court fines increase rapidly if you ignore correspondence- bailiff fees don't come cheap- but there's normally a solution.

 

[Mitch in Notts]

In the Newspaper article in the Times it states that the first hearing was adjourned because the 'prosecution failed to turn up'. Can I presume a situation of a rail company failing to get their act together? Perhaps if they had turned up to the first hearing the ultimate outcome may have been different.....

 

[Darandio]

Perhaps if they had turned up to the first hearing the ultimate outcome may have been different.....

I can't be the only one uncomfortable with that line of thought.

 

[najaB]

Perhaps if they had turned up to the first hearing the ultimate outcome may have been different.....

And, if you prefer to score points by blaming the victim: "Perhaps if he had paid his fare the ultimate outcome may have been different." :roll:

There were numerous opportunities to break the chain of events that lead to this young man ending his life, it doesn't do anyone any good to try and apportion blame. We - as a society - fail our young people too often. I don't know what the solution is, but I know it doesn't start with pinning blame on any party.

 

[Camden]

And, if you prefer to score points by blaming the victim:

Read it again. It was the prosecution who failed to turn up for the first hearing. It was the prosecution's absence which caused the adjournment.

If the prosecution had turned up for the first hearing, the outcome may have been different.

 

[najaB]

Read it again.

Perhaps you should read my post again as I rather think you missed the point.

 

[Busaholic]

Read it again. It was the prosecution who failed to turn up for the first hearing. It was the prosecution's absence which caused the adjournment.

If the prosecution had turned up for the first hearing, the outcome may have been different.

When I worked for the Probation Service (admittedly a fair time ago) it would have been usual in a case such as this for the magistrates to dismiss it at that stage if the prosecuting counsel failed to appear, although such a scenario happened less often then because our criminal justice system was not in such disarray.

 

[Camden]

Right, yes Naja, I did sorry.

While it is true, I think that it is important for companies to always realise it is people they are dealing with who will be having to deal with the company's actions on a very personal level.

I don't think it's on for the prosecution of all people to not show up and unless it was a very serious case (which it obviously wasn't) a recognition that the no-show shouldn't have happened would have been appropriate along with a subsequent and immediate cancellation of proceedings.

The rail companies expect their passengers to do the right thing - they should apply the same standards to themselves.

 

[Camden]

When I worked for the Probation Service (admittedly a fair time ago) it would have been usual in a case such as this for the magistrates to dismiss it at that stage if the prosecuting counsel failed to appear, although such a scenario happened less often then because our criminal justice system was not in such disarray.

Yes good point. If it was the defendant who didn't show up it would have been a conviction in their absence, so a dismissal for a prosecution no show would have been entirely right.

 

[Master29]

From several sources I've seen this story in it seems he had a lot of deep seated problems beyond the fare evasion case.

I think that is the most likely conclusion. I do not believe one would end their life solely on a lone incident like this. It may well have been a major contributory factor but more than likely there were more serious issues in this poor guys life.
Doesn`t make it any less tragic and as many have pointed out such tragedies like this are all too common.

 

[Haywain]

Right, yes Naja, I did sorry.

While it is true, I think that it is important for companies to always realise it is people they are dealing with who will be having to deal with the company's actions on a very personal level.

I don't think it's on for the prosecution of all people to not show up and unless it was a very serious case (which it obviously wasn't) a recognition that the no-show shouldn't have happened would have been appropriate along with a subsequent and immediate cancellation of proceedings.

The rail companies expect their passengers to do the right thing - they should apply the same standards to themselves.

"The prosecution" are people as well. There may have been perfectly good human reasons why they "did not turn up". Perhaps the defendants need to also understand that they are dealing with real people, albeit ones who are acting for a business.

 

[MikeWh]

It's incredibly tragic, and a sign that it is never too late to ask for help.

Magistrates Court fines increase rapidly if you ignore correspondence- bailiff fees don't come cheap- but there's normally a solution.

Some correspondance went to a wrong address in this case. If that hadn't happened perhaps he would have engaged sooner?

 

[gray1404]

This is really really really sad indeed! I am lost for words.

I guess there is no point going into it now, but if he had ADHD then Northern's disabled person's protection policy should have applied and he should have been allowed to pay on board or at the destination.

 

[Joe Paxton]

...
I think this tragic story serves to remind us how genuinely worried some people are when they turn to this forum for help.
...

It's incredibly tragic, and a sign that it is never too late to ask for help.
...

Agreed. These thing can make people worried sick, and in turn make their lives wretched. Thankfully most who come to this section of the forum seem to be met with helpful replies.

 

[northwichcat]

From several sources I've seen this story in it seems he had a lot of deep seated problems beyond the fare evasion case.

It states he had attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD.) That isn't exactly an extremely rare condition so it's quite probable some other people threatened with prosecution for not buying a ticket/buying the wrong ticket will also have the same condition.

 

[northwichcat]

Some correspondance went to a wrong address in this case. If that hadn't happened perhaps he would have engaged sooner?

It isn't clear from the story who's fault that is. Was it his fault, Northern's fault or Royal Mail's fault? We don't know.

 

[najaB]

It isn't clear from the story who's fault that is. Was it his fault, Northern's fault or Royal Mail's fault? We don't know.

Not having a go at you, but assigning blame isn't as important as us all taking responsibility for the epidemic of suicide among young people.

It's the leading cause of death for 20-34 year olds in the UK.

 

[Camden]

If it's a leading cause of death in a lower age group that's not surprising:
a. Just starting to take on life's challenges, and therefore entering the age bracket (20 to 100) that puts most of us at some risk of developing those feelings at some point.
b. Combined with that very few overall will die of other causes.

http://visual.ons.gov.uk/what-are-the-top-causes-of-death-by-age-and-gender/

It doesn't constitute an epidemic, especially given the overall trend is downward.

https://www.samaritans.org/sites/de...s/Suicide_statistics_report_2017_Final(2).pdf

 

[cuccir]

It doesn't constitute an epidemic, especially given the overall trend is downward.

https://www.samaritans.org/sites/de...s/Suicide_statistics_report_2017_Final(2).pdf

Well, there's no one definition of an epidemic but 15 in 100,000 is used for meningitis . Under that figure, the figures for men in all age brackets from 20-60 would be considered an epidemic, so it seems a reasonable if imprecise term to use.

 

[najaB]

It doesn't constitute an epidemic, especially given the overall trend is downward.

You can argue over semantics, I'm more concerned that another three to four young people will end their lives today.

 

[Antman]

This is awful and a £600 fine seems totally out of proportion whatever the circumstances.

 

[northwichcat]

This is awful and a £600 fine seems totally out of proportion whatever the circumstances.

Can anyone explain how the 'fine' was £600? Even if he was found guilty in absence in court I don't see how the unpaid fare plus court costs should equate to that much.

 

[najaB]

Can anyone explain how the 'fine' was £600? Even if he was found guilty in absence in court I don't see how the unpaid fare plus court costs should equate to that much.

The fine would have been £400 based on presumed earnings and then costs plus victim surcharge of £200.

 

[gray1404]

That's just wrong, presumed earnings when the chap wasn't working and was disabled. Northern are no victim here at all.

 

[najaB]

That's just wrong, presumed earnings when the chap wasn't working and was disabled. Northern are no victim here at all.

He didn't turn up so the Court (note, Northern don't set the level of fine) applied a standard amount.

 

[Joe Paxton]

That's just wrong, presumed earnings when the chap wasn't working and was disabled. Northern are no victim here at all.

I don't think ADHD in and of itself is categorised as a 'disability' under the Disability Discrimination Act 1995, which is the relevant legislation.

Please note the above isn't a wider comment about what has happened here. I hope my earlier post (#17) conveys my thoughts.

 

[Joe Paxton]

He didn't turn up so the Court (note, Northern don't set the level of fine) applied a standard amount.

Yes, it's the court acting according to normal proceedures.

Part of the unknown about this case is the issue of the incorrect or out-of-date address.