Chiltern Railway prosecution

[Fawkes Cat]

Hello today marks the 6th month from the day I got caught at the chiltern railway.

Most likely you won’t hear anything further. But the six months is for Chiltern to take the matter to court: if they have done that at the last minute then it could take the court a few weeks to get in touch with you.

You should probably give it another month before you can relax. And if you do get a ‘late’ letter please let us see it so we can check that Chiltern are following the rules.

 

[Chiltern 14]

Most likely you won’t hear anything further. But the six months is for Chiltern to take the matter to court: if they have done that at the last minute then it could take the court a few weeks to get in touch with you.

You should probably give it another month before you can relax. And if you do get a ‘late’ letter please let us see it so we can check that Chiltern are following the rules.

Hi Thank you for this. It’s the 7th month and I didn’t receive anything. Should I try and request a DBS for myself, I just want to know that my records are clean?

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi Thank you for this. It’s the 7th month and I didn’t receive anything. Should I try and request a DBS for myself, I just want to know that my records are clean?

Any Bylaw prosecution won’t show on a basic DBS anyway.

 

[Chiltern 14]

A DBS check won’t show a missed letter. It will only show if there are recordable offences, which most railway fare evasion/ticket irregularity offences are not.

Hi alterego,

Noted. How about if they made a mistake on their end on the address?
This is lesson learned for sure never will I put myself in this situation again.
I did saw this news recently though.

Thousands of train fare prosecutions set to be quashed

As many as 74,000 cases could be overturned after a ruling by the chief magistrate of England and Wales.

www.bbc.co.uk

What do you think of this news?

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi alterego,

Noted. How about if they made a mistake on their end on the address?

Regardless, a Basic DBS check will never show a Bylaw offence. Enhanced ones might, in some circumstances, but you cannot apply for one for yourself; these are applied for when you take on a sensitive job role, and the disclosure of any non-Police intelligence will be entirely contextual.

I did saw this news recently though.

Thousands of train fare prosecutions set to be quashed

As many as 74,000 cases could be overturned after a ruling by the chief magistrate of England and Wales.

www.bbc.co.uk

What do you think of this news?

This case started on this forum. The thread is here if you'd like to read it: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ies-for-section-5-1-rora-prosecutions.269410/

 

[some bloke]

I would rather pay the fine than be in constant fear and worry that I might have a record or what if they inputed the wrong address number.

How about if they made a mistake on their end on the address?

If someone gets convicted when they didn't know they'd been prosecuted, they can make a declaration that they didn't know.

If they do that correctly and within 21 days of finding out, the conviction is automatically void and they can then try to get a settlement.

Statutory declaration of ignorance of proceedings

Use this form to make a declaration of ignorance of proceedings

www.gov.uk

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 8 Oct 2024 ==

The prosecution restarts. Making the declaration at a solicitor's office rather than at court would give time to discuss the case with the company, because the court can't immediately deal with it.

I'm not aware of any cases on this forum where the company bothered to try for a second conviction after the declaration and an apology. They may well have only prosecuted in those cases because they got no reply.

 

[Chiltern 14]

Regardless, a Basic DBS check will never show a Bylaw offence. Enhanced ones might, in some circumstances, but you cannot apply for one for yourself; these are applied for when you take on a sensitive job role, and the disclosure of any non-Police intelligence will be entirely contextual.


This case started on this forum. The thread is here if you'd like to read it: https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ies-for-section-5-1-rora-prosecutions.269410/

Hi Thank you for the response. Just wanted to know if there are some instances similar to mine in which they didn’t hear back from the railway entirely? Please let me know. Thank you.

 

[Fermiboson]

Yes, there are. TOCs can sometimes exercise discretion and choose not to prosecute or threaten to prosecute you. However, given that your offence involves the misuse of a JobCentre railcard, which is considered very serious, I would be somewhat surprised if they exercised this discretion.

Have you checked all of your correspondence (physical, email, incl. spam) over the past seven months closely and ensured that you have received no correspondence at all from them?

Alternatively, they may just have forgotten about you. I think it is possible (wait for other forum members’ comments on this before you act on it) that it will be wise to contact Chiltern and check they haven’t convicted you in absentia, since they are now out of time to prosecute you anyways so there’s no danger of reminding them to do so. I am not entirely sure on this and if they do choose to try anyways it may result in further trouble and paperwork.

If you find out in the future (for example via a fine suddenly being deducted from your salary, or a bailiff showing up at your door - has happened before!) that you have in fact be convicted in absentia, you are able to file a statutory declaration at a local solicitor’s office, informing the court you were unaware of the case and hence in effect resetting the clock on the case. You can then contact Chiltern and try to hack out an out of court settlement while you wait for the court case to proceed again.

 

[Chiltern 14]

Yes, there are. TOCs can sometimes exercise discretion and choose not to prosecute or threaten to prosecute you. However, given that your offence involves the misuse of a JobCentre railcard, which is considered very serious, I would be somewhat surprised if they exercised this discretion.

Have you checked all of your correspondence (physical, email, incl. spam) over the past seven months closely and ensured that you have received no correspondence at all from them?

Alternatively, they may just have forgotten about you. I think it is possible (wait for other forum members’ comments on this before you act on it) that it will be wise to contact Chiltern and check they haven’t convicted you in absentia, since they are now out of time to prosecute you anyways so there’s no danger of reminding them to do so. I am not entirely sure on this and if they do choose to try anyways it may result in further trouble and paperwork.

If you find out in the future (for example via a fine suddenly being deducted from your salary, or a bailiff showing up at your door - has happened before!) that you have in fact be convicted in absentia, you are able to file a statutory declaration at a local solicitor’s office, informing the court you were unaware of the case and hence in effect resetting the clock on the case. You can then contact Chiltern and try to hack out an out of court settlement while you wait for the court case to proceed again.

Noted wil wait for others advice. Thank you

 

[747292]

Noted wil wait for others advice. Thank you

Bear in mind that, if Chiltern/TIL decide to contact you now about the matter (> 6 months) given they have correct details for you, the correct response from you is NO response. If they’ve failed to contact you or issue you with a court summons directly (unlikely) within 6 months, all this means is that Chiltern/TIL is terrible at their job and don’t deserve to collect lost revenue from you. Take it as a life experience and learning the easy way!

 

[Fermiboson]

Bear in mind that, if Chiltern/TIL decide to contact you now about the matter (> 6 months) given they have correct details for you, the correct response from you is NO response. If they’ve failed to contact you or issue you with a court summons directly (unlikely) within 6 months, all this means is that Chiltern/TIL is terrible at their job and don’t deserve to collect lost revenue from you. Take it as a life experience and learning the easy way!

While this is legally true, magistrates courts can be very lacklustre in their enforcement of the time limit. If OP receives further correspondence and/or prosecution papers, it would -be wise to upload them here so members can advise on what action, if any, should be taken.

 

[CyrusWuff]

While this is legally true, magistrates courts can be very lacklustre in their enforcement of the time limit. If OP receives further correspondence and/or prosecution papers, it would -be wise to upload them here so members can advise on what action, if any, should be taken.

For cases that have timed out for action at Mags, TOCs have the option of attempting a civil claim through the small claims system, which has a six year limit.

 

[Fermiboson]

That is also true. I don’t think we’ve seen Chiltern do it - GWR have only recently started?

 

[747292]

For cases that have timed out for action at Mags, TOCs have the option of attempting a civil claim through the small claims system, which has a six year limit.

Good point, though this is rare and I suspect the TOCs may find it difficult to get more than their direct losses or even for previous incidents. I expect GWR is using this as an absolute last resort when they don’t have capacity to issue NIPs within 6 months.