Fined for getting on train without paying for a ticket.

[Tarquin88]

This article was in the Basingstoke Gazette's daily email today and might give others an insight into the current level of fines etc if a case goes to court.

A Basingstoke woman was fined for getting on a train at Basingstoke Station without paying for a ticket.

Leanne Williams, 23 and of Blackbird Close, boarded a train on July 17, last year, without having a ticket.

On January 25, Magistrates in Portsmouth handed her a fine of £40 and she must pay £22.40 in compensation.

She must also pay £50 court costs and a £34 victim surcharge.

The offence went against byelaw 18(1) and 24 of the Railway Byelaws made under Section 219 of the Transport Act 2000 by the Strategic Railway Authority and confirmed under schedule 20 of the Transport Act 2000.

Byelaw 18(1) states: "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."

The case was proved through Single Justice Procedure where a magistrate judges the case on the basis of the papers alone without either party having to attend court for a hearing.

 

[AlterEgo]

What was her income? The fine will be tied to her income and will not be especially illustrative for other posters in different circumstances.

 

[mikeg]

I'm guessing she had a fairly modest income which she declared. This is significantly lower than most fines we see, but the reason for this is many have no discount for a guilty plea and income not taken into account as a lot of people don't bother to show up/ignore it and hope it goes away.
Now I suspect that the reason for this is that those who do engage with the system are often able to settle out of court.

 

[30907]

I presume she also received a discount for pleading guilty.

Useful, because the "extras" - court costs and victim surcharge - amount to £84, which is not dissimilar to the settlements we hear of.

 

[Haywain]

On the whole it appears, if the report is accurate, that she got off very lightly.

 

[eoff]

I looked up victim surcharge and the info I found said that you don't pay a surcharge if there is compensation awarded. Can someone clarify?

 

[Puffing Devil]

On the whole it appears, if the report is accurate, that she got off very lightly.

Bang on the guidelines - Band A fine, discount for an early guilty plea, minimum income, compensation for the ticket, lower costs for SJP.

I looked up victim surcharge and the info I found said that you don't pay a surcharge if there is compensation awarded. Can someone clarify?

No, there is the ability to reduce some elements of a financial penalty if the defendant absolutely cannot pay the full penalty. (Link)

Courts can reduce the amount of the surcharge (if necessary to nil) if – and only if – an offender cannot pay both the surcharge and one or more of the following orders:​

• compensation order,
• unlawful profit order,
• slavery and trafficking reparation order.

 

[eoff]

This was the site I was looking at...

Other financial orders

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Specifically...

"There is no surcharge payable when compensation is ordered as a sentence (as opposed to an ancillary order)."

So perhaps the part in the brackets is relevant.

 

[Puffing Devil]

This was the site I was looking at...

Other financial orders

www.sentencingcouncil.org.uk

Specifically...

"There is no surcharge payable when compensation is ordered as a sentence (as opposed to an ancillary order)."

So perhaps the part in the brackets is relevant.

Yes - the court can order compensation only as a sentence; in that case no surcharge. This is a rare occurrence.

In most cases, compensation is ancillary to another order - fine, unpaid work, suspended sentence, and a surcharge is payable.