Report for Prosecution Issued - Wrong date, but not told?

[UnverifiedR]

Hi all,
As is probably the case for the majority of postings here - I've received a Report for Prosecution regarding an invalid ticket (I had bought the ticket the day prior). I was hoping if I could receive some advice on how best to proceed with this. I was wondering whether the fact that my ticket had been scanned once prior, and had been looked at twice, before might have any relevance to the situation and whether this my mitigate the situation. The following is a series of events:

Arrived at Paignton, boarded train, I had bought the ticket prior using trainsplit
Upon the train, my ticket was scanned by a member of staff - I was not told my ticket was invalid, and was given no indication that I couldn't travel using the ticket
Arrived at Exeter St Davids to changeover, I spoke to a member of staff to let me out so I could get a coffee - he looked at my ticket and let me out, again made no issue with my ticket (I also had it looked at again by a different member of staff to let me back in who again had no issue).
Boarded my other train, then revenue protection came and that was when I was made aware I had an invalid ticket.

He suggested to me that it might be a route to claim that I wasn't given an option to make payment for a valid ticket, as I was unaware it was invalid and had no indication it was, and that this might be grounds to mitigate the situation.

Thanks!

 

[greatkingrat]

Firstly you need to tell us what ticket you had, and why it was invalid. Was it an Advance ticket only valid on a specific train?

 

[UnverifiedR]

Firstly you need to tell us what ticket you had, and why it was invalid. Was it an Advance ticket only valid on a specific train?

Thanks for the reply, both were off-peak return valid via any permitted route, but were valid until 28 Jan - I travelled on the 29th. The route I was travelling was in line with the ticket - it was just the fact I travelled a day later than the ticket.

 

[greatkingrat]

If they scanned the ticket at Paignton, the scanner would have flagged up the ticket as invalid so it's odd they didn't say anything. The TOC can check their database to see when the ticket was scanned which will presumably confirm your story.

There's not really a lot you can do at the moment though, you just need to wait for the letter to arrive and then come back here for further advice.

 

[UnverifiedR]

If they scanned the ticket at Paignton, the scanner would have flagged up the ticket as invalid so it's odd they didn't say anything. The TOC can check their database to see when the ticket was scanned which will presumably confirm your story.

There's not really a lot you can do at the moment though, you just need to wait for the letter to arrive and then come back here for further advice.

Assuming what I say is true and that TOC can corroborate this, is it grounds for appeal/mitigation on this account?

 

[greatkingrat]

Unfortunately it is a strict liability offence, either you had a valid ticket or you didn't, so they could prosecute if they wanted to, whatever the mitigation is. Having said that, it is certainly worth trying.

 

[AlterEgo]

Assuming what I say is true and that TOC can corroborate this, is it grounds for appeal/mitigation on this account?

No. The ticket is invalid, and Bylaw 18 is strict liability. Your argument here amounts to that the first member of staff should have reported you for prosecution instead of the third one. This is like saying it's not fair you were caught speeding because you also went too fast past another speed camera earlier which didn't go off.

GWR will settle the matter for the outstanding fare plus an administration fee in almost all cases rather than going to court, so I wouldn't worry about mitigation; they don't care. There is no formal right to appeal, and it would be unwise to try this. You clearly had the wrong ticket, even though it was a mistake, and unfortunately that is entirely on you.