Help with Conviction and Fine

[AMcK1985]

I have recently been convicted for Boarding a train in non compulsory ticket area without a valid ticket - railway bye-law and wondered what my options were

I had a ticket for another service (to Chesterfield) on that day but unfortunately missed it having been directed to the wrong platform by a member of staff at the station of origin (Leeds).

I did get on the train knowing it was the wrong one as by that point I had missed the service I was supposed to be on and had a tight schedule to collect a vehicle and make an onward journey to London.

I was honest with the inspector who told me I had nothing to worry about and just to provide some details for this to be resolved thinking I would have to simply pay for the journey at a later date as I didn't have enough funds at the time to pay for the ticket for that service without going hungry whilst in the capital.

I now feel totally duped and angry that I have a criminal conviction and a collection order for a fine including a victim (?) surcharge. I am a postgraduate student and already struggling with the cost of living so this is a huge blow to me.

I obviously feel particularly aggrieved as I had purchased aticket for the journey to Chesterfield but it obviously wasn't valid for the service I was on.

Is there anything I can do or do I just have to accept that this is how things are?

I can't fathom how we've got to this point and feel very despondent about the current state of the rail industry.

Thank you for your time

 

[yorkie]

I have recently been convicted for Boarding a train in non compulsory ticket area without a valid ticket - railway bye-law and wondered what my options were

I had a ticket for another service (to Chesterfield) on that day but unfortunately missed it having been directed to the wrong platform by a member of staff at the station of origin (Leeds).

I did get on the train knowing it was the wrong one as by that point I had missed the service I was supposed to be on and had a tight schedule to collect a vehicle and make an onward journey to London.

I was honest with the inspector who told me I had nothing to worry about and just to provide some details for this to be resolved thinking I would have to simply pay for the journey at a later date as I didn't have enough funds at the time to pay for the ticket for that service without going hungry whilst in the capital.

I now feel totally duped and angry that I have a criminal conviction and a collection order for a fine including a victim (?) surcharge. I am a postgraduate student and already struggling with the cost of living so this is a huge blow to me.

I obviously feel particularly aggrieved as I had purchased aticket for the journey to Chesterfield but it obviously wasn't valid for the service I was on.

Is there anything I can do or do I just have to accept that this is how things are?

If you had sought help from us straight away, I am sure we could have resolved the matter (though we would have needed a lot more information about your journey, ticket held, the trains you booked and actually travelled on, and what exactly happened in terms of the interactions and correspondence that took place).

Passengers should not be prosecuted for this reason, but without a lot more information, it's difficult to comment and impossible to advise.

Furthermore, nearly all train companies will settle out of court, if you engage with them.

If you have already been convicted, I don't think we can do anything to get you out of it retrospectively.

I can't fathom how we've got to this point and feel very despondent about the current state of the rail industry.

Usually threads in this section relate to advising people on how to resolve disputes and avoid prosecutions, but if the case has already gone to court, and you've been convicted, then clearly we can't proceed on that basis.

Is your aim, and the purpose of this thread, to highlight the injustice of the current rules / laws, and the poor behaviour of the rail industry, and try to enact change, so that others are not similarly mistreated? Are you wanting to go to the media to get your mistreatment highlighted?

 

[Solent&Wessex]

I do not know of any train company at all which goes straight to prosecution for this matter.

There are normally at least 2, normally 3, letters sent out trying to resolve the matter first. It is generally only if those get ignored does court appear as a last resort.

Did you get any letters at any point?

Did you get the court paperwork? This may have been Single Justice paperwork or an actual summons?

Just as an aside, when did this take place?

If you were genuinely unaware that the court proceedings were taking place (because you never received any court and prosecution paperwork) then you can make an application for a Statutory Declaration to the court which will reset the conviction.

If you were aware, and just chose to ignore everything, then I think that's a different matter.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I have recently been convicted for Boarding a train in non compulsory ticket area without a valid ticket - railway bye-law and wondered what my options were

I had a ticket for another service (to Chesterfield) on that day but unfortunately missed it having been directed to the wrong platform by a member of staff at the station of origin (Leeds).

I did get on the train knowing it was the wrong one as by that point I had missed the service I was supposed to be on and had a tight schedule to collect a vehicle and make an onward journey to London.

I was honest with the inspector who told me I had nothing to worry about and just to provide some details for this to be resolved thinking I would have to simply pay for the journey at a later date as I didn't have enough funds at the time to pay for the ticket for that service without going hungry whilst in the capital.

I now feel totally duped and angry that I have a criminal conviction and a collection order for a fine including a victim (?) surcharge. I am a postgraduate student and already struggling with the cost of living so this is a huge blow to me.

I obviously feel particularly aggrieved as I had purchased aticket for the journey to Chesterfield but it obviously wasn't valid for the service I was on.

Is there anything I can do or do I just have to accept that this is how things are?

I can't fathom how we've got to this point and feel very despondent about the current state of the rail industry.

Thank you for your time

It's not quite clear to me what stage the process is at: please could you show us the most recent letter that you have had about this (make sure you hide your name and address and any reference numbers!). Ideally it would be good to see all the correspondence you have had, but the most recent should be enough to point us in the right direction.

 

[John R]

A key question is whether you were aware that you were being prosecuted? If not then there are steps that you can take to reverse the conviction and have the case reheard. That would give you time to negotiate a settlement with the rail company concerned.

If however you ignored mail sent to you in the hope the matter would go away then there is little prospect of changing the situation.

So we need to know more about what happened after the incident in terms of correspondence to help you.

 

[island]

I now feel totally duped and angry that I have a criminal conviction and a collection order for a fine including a victim (?) surcharge. I am a postgraduate student and already struggling with the cost of living so this is a huge blow to me.

To reach this stage you would have been sent at least two and likely more prior letters about the case.

Please post copies of the correspondence received, obscuring personal details, so we can help.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

It's not quite clear to me what stage the process is at: please could you show us the most recent letter that you have had about this (make sure you hide your name and address and any reference numbers!). Ideally it would be good to see all the correspondence you have had, but the most recent should be enough to point us in the right direction.

To amplify what I said earlier - the thing is, it's possible that you're not in as much trouble as you think. That's because the letters that the railway sends are worded so that you will think the worst, and comply with the ticketing rules in future. But on this forum, we've seen a lot of the letters so we're pretty good at cutting through the wording to tell you what's really happening.

If you can let us see the most recent letter, we can probably work out what stage the process is at. It's possible (but not certain) that you haven't been prosecuted yet, in which case it might still be possible to sort this out without going to court (although almost certainly you will have to pay some money to someone to sort it out).

 

[Haywain]

it's possible that you're not in as much trouble as you think. That's because the letters that the railway sends are worded so that you will think the worst,

I don't think we've ever seen a letter from a train operator that calls itself a 'collection order' or mentions the victim surcharge. I therefore think it is quite reasonable to suppose that this is a post conviction letter from the court.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I don't think we've ever seen a letter from a train operator that calls itself a 'collection order' or mentions the victim surcharge. I therefore think it is quite reasonable to suppose that this is a post conviction letter from the court.

A fair point - I had missed that in the original post.

 

[tixy]

A collection order is an indication that you have been fined and the court have allowed time to pay. Putting opinions aside, your options are limited.

If you recieved the collection order at your address, you must have recieved at least a few letters from the railway, then either a single justice procedure notice or summons.

Do you remember getting any court paperwork before the collection order? If so did you fill it in?

As everyone has asked, please post (with details redacted) a photo of all papers recieved. We can’t really advise blind.

In the meantime, it’s important to stick to what has been ordered and not to default. Consequences can be serious if court fines go unpaid.

 

[Manak]

I have recently been convicted for Boarding a train in non compulsory ticket area without a valid ticket - railway bye-law and wondered what my options were

I had a ticket for another service (to Chesterfield) on that day but unfortunately missed it having been directed to the wrong platform by a member of staff at the station of origin (Leeds).

I did get on the train knowing it was the wrong one as by that point I had missed the service I was supposed to be on and had a tight schedule to collect a vehicle and make an onward journey to London.

I was honest with the inspector who told me I had nothing to worry about and just to provide some details for this to be resolved thinking I would have to simply pay for the journey at a later date as I didn't have enough funds at the time to pay for the ticket for that service without going hungry whilst in the capital.

I now feel totally duped and angry that I have a criminal conviction and a collection order for a fine including a victim (?) surcharge. I am a postgraduate student and already struggling with the cost of living so this is a huge blow to me.

I obviously feel particularly aggrieved as I had purchased aticket for the journey to Chesterfield but it obviously wasn't valid for the service I was on.

Is there anything I can do or do I just have to accept that this is how things are?

I can't fathom how we've got to this point and feel very despondent about the current state of the rail industry.

Thank you for your time

If you were unaware of the court summons etc then you can prepare a statutory declaration to reset the case. You can approach the train company for an out of court settlement. The volunteers here can help you with that process.

If you were aware of the papers but did not deal with them, you can make an application to re open the case s142 application. This is an email to the court explaining whatever stresses you had at the time together with information around why you did not understand the paperwork. You can argue it is in the interests of justice to re open. Contact the train company in advance to agree a settlement in principle. Again the volunteers can help you with this. Good luck!