Submitting Statutory Declaration

[orialcxcx]

Hi, looking for some advice regarding submitting a statutory declaration. In early May 2024, I travelled from Tottenham Hale to Stansted Airport on the Stansted Express on a 16-25 Railcard ticket. I got to the barriers and a member of staff asked to see my ticket and railcard. I opened my railcard app to discover that my railcard had in fact expired on the 10th March, not the 10th May as I believed. The member of staff who flashed his badge and told me he was BTP. He said he was going to interview me under caution, which he did and filled in a form, which I signed at the bottom. I believe I pled guilty (he asked the question “did you have a valid ticket for this journey when travelling?”, I answered “I believed I did at the time” but was pressured into answering no, which was what was written on the form). I signed the form. He told me Greater Anglia would be in touch with the outcome and I could continue with my journey. He did NOT issue me with any paperwork. Not sure if it’s worth noting but I was still under 25 at the time and bought a new railcard on the app immediately after exiting the station.

In July 2024, I moved house. I called Greater Anglia to tell them this who informed me that IRCAS was the company who dealt with penalty fares etc and I would need to contact them. I contacted them via their online from in which I included my previous address and my new address. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of this correspondence as it was on the web form. They replied via email telling me they could not find this case on the system and did I not receive a slip on the day which would have a reference number on it? I replied to say that I did not and expanded on the nature of the offence (at the end asking them to kindly let me know if there was any more information I could give them as “I am anxious about missing a letter, not paying the fine and this issue going further”). I received an automatic reply which stated “If you do not receive a response, assume the matter of closed”. I do have a copy of their email response, my response and the automatic reply.

I therefore (naively) did assume the matter was closed and had no knowledge of any further action (I’m assuming mail regarding this was sent to my previous address) until 2 days ago when I received a “Further steps notice” from London Collection and Compliance Centre and a fine of £478 to my “new” address.



I have emailed LCCC to confirm details of the court case, which they have done. They have advised the following in the email:



“If you are unhappy with the outcome of your Magistrates’ court case, or if you were unaware of the Court proceedings and did not receive any court summons, or if you wish to challenge the court’s decision, then you need to contact the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre (CTSC). Please contact the CTSC on 0300 303 0656. Monday to Thursday, 8am to 5pm and Friday, 8am to 4pm.”



I have done a little research and understand I need to submit a Statutory Declaration to the court, then contact Greater Anglia to ask them if they’d settle out of court (I am hoping due to evidence that I attempted to contact them re address change and my willingness to pay the fine that they may accept this if I grovel!) Therefore, I will call CTSC today to say that I intend to submit an SD.

My question is regarding the logistics of this- I understand I can either submit the SD in court or with a solicitor, and the ideal method is via solicitor as I don’t need to immediately submit a plea, which will buy me time to contact Greater Anglia.

What would be sensible/not sensible to include in the SD?

Do I just contact any solicitor, ask them to sign the SD and send it to LCCC? Or elsewhere? Via post or can it be scanned?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi, looking for some advice regarding submitting a statutory declaration. In early May 2024, I travelled from Tottenham Hale to Stansted Airport on the Stansted Express on a 16-25 Railcard ticket. I got to the barriers and a member of staff asked to see my ticket and railcard. I opened my railcard app to discover that my railcard had in fact expired on the 10th March, not the 10th May as I believed. The member of staff who flashed his badge and told me he was BTP. He said he was going to interview me under caution, which he did and filled in a form, which I signed at the bottom. I believe I pled guilty (he asked the question “did you have a valid ticket for this journey when travelling?”, I answered “I believed I did at the time” but was pressured into answering no, which was what was written on the form). I signed the form. He told me Greater Anglia would be in touch with the outcome and I could continue with my journey. He did NOT issue me with any paperwork. Not sure if it’s worth noting but I was still under 25 at the time and bought a new railcard on the app immediately after exiting the station.

In July 2024, I moved house. I called Greater Anglia to tell them this who informed me that IRCAS was the company who dealt with penalty fares etc and I would need to contact them. I contacted them via their online from in which I included my previous address and my new address. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of this correspondence as it was on the web form. They replied via email telling me they could not find this case on the system and did I not receive a slip on the day which would have a reference number on it? I replied to say that I did not and expanded on the nature of the offence (at the end asking them to kindly let me know if there was any more information I could give them as “I am anxious about missing a letter, not paying the fine and this issue going further”). I received an automatic reply which stated “If you do not receive a response, assume the matter of closed”. I do have a copy of their email response, my response and the automatic reply.

I therefore (naively) did assume the matter was closed and had no knowledge of any further action (I’m assuming mail regarding this was sent to my previous address) until 2 days ago when I received a “Further steps notice” from London Collection and Compliance Centre and a fine of £478 to my “new” address.



I have emailed LCCC to confirm details of the court case, which they have done. They have advised the following in the email:



“If you are unhappy with the outcome of your Magistrates’ court case, or if you were unaware of the Court proceedings and did not receive any court summons, or if you wish to challenge the court’s decision, then you need to contact the Courts and Tribunals Service Centre (CTSC). Please contact the CTSC on 0300 303 0656. Monday to Thursday, 8am to 5pm and Friday, 8am to 4pm.”



I have done a little research and understand I need to submit a Statutory Declaration to the court, then contact Greater Anglia to ask them if they’d settle out of court (I am hoping due to evidence that I attempted to contact them re address change and my willingness to pay the fine that they may accept this if I grovel!) Therefore, I will call CTSC today to say that I intend to submit an SD.

My question is regarding the logistics of this- I understand I can either submit the SD in court or with a solicitor, and the ideal method is via solicitor as I don’t need to immediately submit a plea, which will buy me time to contact Greater Anglia.

What would be sensible/not sensible to include in the SD?

Do I just contact any solicitor, ask them to sign the SD and send it to LCCC? Or elsewhere? Via post or can it be scanned?

Thank you in advance for any advice.

Hi and welcome

You DO need some advice on here about how best to use the Statutory Declaration form (SD) process in the way that best suits (but beware there is a time limit - I think this is 21 days from the point at which you became aware of the court action - which I assume was 2 days ago?).

Essentially you need to use the SD process to buy time to then open a negotiation with Greater Anglia prosecutions Deportment to see if they will now agree to settle out of court and drop the prosecution (the SD re sets the clock) - people here can advise you how to do this - and you can search out some other cases to get the idea of what to do in the mean time - try searching here on 'Statutory Declaration' for example. This usually involves advice NOT to do the SD at a court as they may then immediately re-open the case and ask you for a plea - this is what you want to avoid as you need to buy time to get the court action dropped.

I called Greater Anglia to tell them this who informed me that IRCAS was the company who dealt with penalty fares etc and I would need to contact them. I contacted them via their online from in which I included my previous address and my new address. Unfortunately, I do not have a copy of this correspondence as it was on the web form. They replied via email telling me they could not find this case on the system and did I not receive a slip on the day which would have a reference number on it?

This is most unfortunate but sadly an example of the sort of poor response that too often comes from Customer Services parts of the railway companies - as you were presumably not issued a Penalty fare none of this was relevant or appropriate for you to be told. It sounds like you were reported for investigation by the back office when you were stopped (which is the usual course of action for expired Railcards) - however, without knowing what you said to them in your on line form it's not possible to know if you lead them to believe you had been issued with a Penalty fare or if they just erroneously assumed you had - in any case it was not helpful response to you.

Incidentally - it does not make much difference but I doubt it was a BTP member who stopped you - more likely a Railway Revenue Protection Officer - who would also tell you your rights in the way you describe. They ought to give you some paperwork about this when you were stopped as it helps, but they are not required to do so AIUI.

Hope this helps a bit - no doubt others will come along and advise on the SD process that you should use, and how to use it to your best advantage.

You need to make sure they know your correct postal address now. You need to inform the railway and the court of this so they can match your case. Wait for advice here before actually doing this.

 

[orialcxcx]

Hi and welcome

You DO need some advice on here about how best to use the Statutory Declaration form (SD) process in the way that best suits (but beware there is a time limit - I think this is 21 days from the point at which you became aware of the court action - which I assume was 2 days ago?).

Essentially you need to use the SD process to buy time to then open a negotiation with Greater Anglia prosecutions Deportment to see if they will now agree to settle out of court and drop the prosecution (the SD re sets the clock) - people here can advise you how to do this - and you can search out some other cases to get the idea of what to do in the mean time - try searching here on 'Statutory Declaration' for example. This usually involves advice NOT to do the SD at a court as they may then immediately re-open the case and ask you for a plea - this is what you want to avoid as you need to buy time to get the court action dropped.



This is most unfortunate but sadly an example of the sort of poor response that too often comes from Customer Services parts of the railway companies - as you were presumably not issued a Penalty fare none of this was relevant or appropriate for you to be told. It sounds like you were reported for investigation by the back office when you were stopped (which is the usual course of action for expired Railcards) - however, without knowing what you said to them in your on line form it's not possible to know if you lead them to believe you had been issued with a Penalty fare or if they just erroneously assumed you had - in any case it was not helpful response to you.

Incidentally - it does not make much difference but I doubt it was a BTP member who stopped you - more likely a Railway Revenue Protection Officer - who would also tell you your rights in the way you describe. They ought to give you some paperwork about this when you were stopped as it helps, but they are not required to do so AIUI.

Hope this helps a bit - no doubt others will come along and advise on the SD process that you should use, and how to use it to your best advantage.

You need to make sure they know your correct postal address now. You need to inform the railway and the court of this so they can match your case. Wait for advice here before actually doing this.

Thank you very much for your thorough response. Yes I became aware of the court action 2 days ago. I am in the process of completing the SD form, which says at the bottom if the charges were tried under the SJP, I must also respond to this in writing at the same time as serving the declaration (which I can't because I never got one!)

I think on my online form I just stated that I was told to await an outcome and hadn't received one yet so I wanted to update them with my new address for any correspondence that may arrive by post but it is possible I led them to believe I was expecting a penalty fare?

I am hoping that you are right and someone will come along and advise me further on the SD form especially regarding the response needed for the SJP notice- it's something that I want to get right! Thank you again.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you very much for your thorough response. Yes I became aware of the court action 2 days ago. I am in the process of completing the SD form, which says at the bottom if the charges were tried under the SJP, I must also respond to this in writing at the same time as serving the declaration (which I can't because I never got one!)

I think on my online form I just stated that I was told to await an outcome and hadn't received one yet so I wanted to update them with my new address for any correspondence that may arrive by post but it is possible I led them to believe I was expecting a penalty fare?

I am hoping that you are right and someone will come along and advise me further on the SD form especially regarding the response needed for the SJP notice- it's something that I want to get right! Thank you again.

Yes, someone here will be able to advise - hopefully one of the court process / SD experts will pitch in over the next 24 hours - but in the mean time do search threads here on SDs - there have been one or two helpful ones in the recent past with good info in them that I think will help you

You still have a decent wedge of time before you need to submit it to get it correct, although of course that clock is now ticking

 

[island]

When you submit your SD you also need to give a response to the SJPN, which can be

• Guilty and I do not wish to attend court
• Guilty but I wish to attend court
• Not guilty/I do not wish to be tried under the SJPN

 

[orialcxcx]

What should I say if I intend to try and settle out of court with Greater Anglia?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Feb 2025 ==

When you submit your SD you also need to give a response to the SJPN, which can be

• Guilty and I do not wish to attend court
• Guilty but I wish to attend court
• Not guilty/I do not wish to be tried under the SJPN

Above message was meant to be a reply apologies! If I intend to try and settle out of court, what should I say? Or do I need to contact Greater Anglia BEFORE submitting the SD?

 

[Titfield]

What should I say if I intend to try and settle out of court with Greater Anglia?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Feb 2025 ==


Above message was meant to be a reply apologies! If I intend to try and settle out of court, what should I say? Or do I need to contact Greater Anglia BEFORE submitting the SD?

You need to reply Not Guilty and I do not wish to be tried under SJPN.

That is the only option which will "buy you time" to try and come to a settlement with Greater Anglia.

As soon as you have submitted the SD then contact Greater Anglia.

 

[WesternLancer]

What should I say if I intend to try and settle out of court with Greater Anglia?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 18 Feb 2025 ==


Above message was meant to be a reply apologies! If I intend to try and settle out of court, what should I say? Or do I need to contact Greater Anglia BEFORE submitting the SD?

I see @Titfield has come back on this - with a helpful explanation and I recall this is the general advice given on here in such circumstances

The important thing is to get a time window in which you can engage with Greater Anglia (GA) to ask if they will kindly consider now settling it out of court and withdrawing court action. We've seen this be successful here in other cases so no reason why that can't be achieved through your efforts. Your focus will then be on persuading them that the expired railcard was a genuine oversight and not an intentional attempt to evade a fare, and that you are happy to pay what you owe to correct this oversight.

But GA can't engage in that yet, until the SD is submitted and the 'clock re-set'

I've looked through some past cases and though I can't see the one I had in mind with a helpful explanation of how to do the SD to your best advantage there are a few threads I found which if you look at the relevant sections you can see the helpful info given by experts here

I would suggest the following are worth you reading now:

from posts #14 esp post 23, 27, 31:

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ed-me-for-travelling-beyond-my-ticket.281294/

post #24 here from @Puffing Devil

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-for-an-expired-railcard.279332/#post-7098887

Post 22 here: (and subsequent discussion points that get clarified helpfully)

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/it-wasn’t-me-penalty-fine.279914/#post-7113419

You can peruse the whole thread to see how the cases differ or are similar to your own situation but it's the info on the SD that you need to study I think. Info includes how the get the SD dealt with at a solicitors (without giving the solicitor the impression you want them to handle your case at significant cost to you) etc

Then
in my view on the same day your SD goes in you want to seek to open a dialogue with GA - although they will say they can't do anything until the are notified of the outcome of the SD you can start the dialogue by:

- giving them your correct contact details (postal and e-mail and maybe phone number)
- explaining that you had no knowledge of the court action so have been advised to submit an SD which has now been done (maybe even enclose a copy for them to see)
- briefly apologising for the circumstances that meant this arose, - your house move (this isn't your request to settle so don't go into all that detail yet)
- say that you want to let them know what is going on
- indicate that you would be keen to resolve the matter without further court action in due course if they would be kind enough to consider that

Post your draft up here for checking before sending it

In doing this try to look at it form their point of view, you were stopped, moved house, didn't make any arrangements for your post to be forwarded, put them to the trouble and effort / cost of taking this to court because it looked like you had ignored them etc. You want to get them on side so needs to be phrased accordingly - opening the dialogue with them is the start of getting this all resolved.

 

[orialcxcx]

You need to reply Not Guilty and I do not wish to be tried under SJPN.

That is the only option which will "buy you time" to try and come to a settlement with Greater Anglia.

As soon as you have submitted the SD then contact Greater Anglia.

Is this still appropriate if I don't actually have any evidence or confirmation that I was tried under the SJP (obviously I assume that I have)? I received some advice that I possibly should not respond to the SJP notice as I never received one and at no point has it been mentioned that I was tried under the SJP?

If I don't, will it hinder my chances of the SD being accepted by the Court?

My current SD is:

"I was unaware of the Court proceedings until the 17/02/25 when I received an email reply from the London Collection and Compliance Centre, the criminal debt enforcement unit for HMCTS, informing me of a prosecution at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on 29/11/24. I was prompted to contact LCCC due to receiving a 'Further steps notice' from the aforementioned unit for an unpaid fine on 15/02/25. I did not receive a Court summons at any point, nor did I receive any notice of proceedings."

 

[Puffing Devil]

The SD text is fine - the court will pay little attention if it's in date and have very few grounds to reject it. It's basically an administrative matter.

You may want to add in your cover letter to the court when you submit the SD, that if the prosecution was started under the single justice procedure, you wish to plead not guilty and wish to appear in court.

This will give you time to negotiate with the TOC and you can change your plea with little loss of Early Guilty Plea discount should you fail to reach an agreement.

 

[orialcxcx]

The SD text is fine - the court will pay little attention if it's in date and have very few grounds to reject it. It's basically an administrative matter.

You may want to add in your cover letter to the court when you submit the SD, that if the prosecution was started under the single justice procedure, you wish to plead not guilty and wish to appear in court.

This will give you time to negotiate with the TOC and you can change your plea with little loss of Early Guilty Plea discount should you fail to reach an agreement.

That makes sense, thank you. I will include on my cover letter: "I did not receive a Single Justice Procedure notice. However, if the prosecution was started under the Single Justice Procedure, I wish to plead not guilty and I wish to appear in Court."

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Feb 2025 ==

I see @Titfield has come back on this - with a helpful explanation and I recall this is the general advice given on here in such circumstances

The important thing is to get a time window in which you can engage with Greater Anglia (GA) to ask if they will kindly consider now settling it out of court and withdrawing court action. We've seen this be successful here in other cases so no reason why that can't be achieved through your efforts. Your focus will then be on persuading them that the expired railcard was a genuine oversight and not an intentional attempt to evade a fare, and that you are happy to pay what you owe to correct this oversight.

But GA can't engage in that yet, until the SD is submitted and the 'clock re-set'

I've looked through some past cases and though I can't see the one I had in mind with a helpful explanation of how to do the SD to your best advantage there are a few threads I found which if you look at the relevant sections you can see the helpful info given by experts here

I would suggest the following are worth you reading now:

from posts #14 esp post 23, 27, 31:

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...ed-me-for-travelling-beyond-my-ticket.281294/

post #24 here from @Puffing Devil

https://www.railforums.co.uk/thread...-for-an-expired-railcard.279332/#post-7098887

Post 22 here: (and subsequent discussion points that get clarified helpfully)

https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/it-wasn’t-me-penalty-fine.279914/#post-7113419

You can peruse the whole thread to see how the cases differ or are similar to your own situation but it's the info on the SD that you need to study I think. Info includes how the get the SD dealt with at a solicitors (without giving the solicitor the impression you want them to handle your case at significant cost to you) etc

Then
in my view on the same day your SD goes in you want to seek to open a dialogue with GA - although they will say they can't do anything until the are notified of the outcome of the SD you can start the dialogue by:

- giving them your correct contact details (postal and e-mail and maybe phone number)
- explaining that you had no knowledge of the court action so have been advised to submit an SD which has now been done (maybe even enclose a copy for them to see)
- briefly apologising for the circumstances that meant this arose, - your house move (this isn't your request to settle so don't go into all that detail yet)
- say that you want to let them know what is going on
- indicate that you would be keen to resolve the matter without further court action in due course if they would be kind enough to consider that

Post your draft up here for checking before sending it

In doing this try to look at it form their point of view, you were stopped, moved house, didn't make any arrangements for your post to be forwarded, put them to the trouble and effort / cost of taking this to court because it looked like you had ignored them etc. You want to get them on side so needs to be phrased accordingly - opening the dialogue with them is the start of getting this all resolved.

Thank you very much for your help, and the inclusion of these threads for my reference- I appreciate the time you have taken to advise me.

I will be posting my SD either today or tomorrow (with a certified copy and with recorded delivery). As soon as that is posted, I will email Greater Anglia (I think from my research the correct address is prosecutions@greateranglia.com- although I am finding it very difficult to find the correct email address on their website and have taken this email address from this forum).

My current email draft is as follows:

"*contact details including correct address and telephone number*

To whom it may concern,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding a prosecution made by your company against myself at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on the 29/11/24 under case reference ********* for the offence:

• On 05/05/2024 at Tottenham Hale station, not being in a designated compulsory ticket area, entered a train for the purpose of travelling without having with you a valid ticket entitling you to travel. Contrary to 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, as amended by Section 46 of the Railways Act 2005.

I had no knowledge of the Court proceedings and did not receive a Court summons. Therefore, I have been advised that I must submit a Statutory Declaration to the Court, which I have now done so (please find attached my Statutory Declaration for your perusal).

I am deeply regretful that this matter has progressed the way that it has, and I sincerely apologise for the significant inconvenience that this must have caused you. I can only apologise for the circumstances that led to my ignorance of my Court proceedings, which involved a change of address 2 months after the incident which led to the Court action.

I just wanted to keep you updated with the submission of the Statutory Declaration to minimise further inconvenience and keep you fully informed of my intentions.

I understand that no decisions can be made until after the Statutory Declaration is accepted by the Court, but I wanted to indicate that I would be grateful if you would kindly consider settling the matter out of court. I would of course be, and always have been, prepared to pay any financial penalty you deem appropriate for the offence and to compensate for loss of revenue.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,
orialcxcx"

Does this seem okay as a preamble before I formally approach them once the SD is accepted?

 

[Haywain]

"I did not receive a Single Justice Procedure notice.

Change this to "I did not receive a court summons or Single Justice Procedure Notice."

To whom it may concern,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding...

Really? Just remove that, it's AI nonsense.

 

[WesternLancer]

That makes sense, thank you. I will include on my cover letter: "I did not receive a Single Justice Procedure notice. However, if the prosecution was started under the Single Justice Procedure, I wish to plead not guilty and I wish to appear in Court."

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 19 Feb 2025 ==


Thank you very much for your help, and the inclusion of these threads for my reference- I appreciate the time you have taken to advise me.

I will be posting my SD either today or tomorrow (with a certified copy and with recorded delivery). As soon as that is posted, I will email Greater Anglia (I think from my research the correct address is prosecutions@greateranglia.com- although I am finding it very difficult to find the correct email address on their website and have taken this email address from this forum).

My current email draft is as follows:

"*contact details including correct address and telephone number*

To whom it may concern,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding a prosecution made by your company against myself at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on the 29/11/24 under case reference ********* for the offence:

• On 05/05/2024 at Tottenham Hale station, not being in a designated compulsory ticket area, entered a train for the purpose of travelling without having with you a valid ticket entitling you to travel. Contrary to 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, as amended by Section 46 of the Railways Act 2005.

I had no knowledge of the Court proceedings and did not receive a Court summons. Therefore, I have been advised that I must submit a Statutory Declaration to the Court, which I have now done so (please find attached my Statutory Declaration for your perusal).

I am deeply regretful that this matter has progressed the way that it has, and I sincerely apologise for the significant inconvenience that this must have caused you. I can only apologise for the circumstances that led to my ignorance of my Court proceedings, which involved a change of address 2 months after the incident which led to the Court action.

I just wanted to keep you updated with the submission of the Statutory Declaration to minimise further inconvenience and keep you fully informed of my intentions.

I understand that no decisions can be made until after the Statutory Declaration is accepted by the Court, but I wanted to indicate that I would be grateful if you would kindly consider settling the matter out of court. I would of course be, and always have been, prepared to pay any financial penalty you deem appropriate for the offence and to compensate for loss of revenue.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,
orialcxcx"

Does this seem okay as a preamble before I formally approach them once the SD is accepted?

In case some minor amends are of help : strikethroughs for deletions, Underlines for suggested additions, not that they would need to be underlined in what you send. I think I have included Haywain's helpful amends for your ease of reference



My current email draft is as follows:

"*contact details including correct address and telephone number* (might it possibly help them match your case if you also cited the address they would have had on their records from when you were stopped? Of course you would need to make it 100% clear this address was no longer to be used - their ref number may be enough however)

To whom it may concern,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding a prosecution made by your company against myself at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on the 29/11/24 under case reference ********* for the offence:

• On 05/05/2024 at Tottenham Hale station, not being in a designated compulsory ticket area, entered a train for the purpose of travelling without having with you a valid ticket entitling you to travel. Contrary to 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, as amended by Section 46 of the Railways Act 2005.

I did not receive a court summons or Single Justice Procedure Notice.I had no knowledge of the Court proceedings and did not receive a Court summons. Therefore, I have been advised that I must submit a Statutory Declaration to the Court, which I have now done so (please find attached my Statutory Declaration for your perusal).

I am deeply regretful that this matter has progressed the way that it has, and I sincerely apologise for the significant inconvenience that this must have caused you. I can only apologise for the circumstances that led to my ignorance of the my Court proceedings, which involved a change of address 2 months after the incident which ultimately resulted in led to the Court action.

I just wanted to keep you updated with the submission of the Statutory Declaration to minimise further inconvenience and keep you fully informed of my intentions.

I understand that no decisions can be made until after the Statutory Declaration is accepted by the Court, but I wanted to indicate that I would be grateful if you would kindly consider settling the matter out of court. I would of course be, and always have been, prepared to pay any fare that I owe financial penalty you deem appropriate for the offence and to compensate for loss of revenue due to my overlooking the expiry of my Railcard as I had no intention to evade paying the correct fare.

I hope to hear from you soon.

Kind regards,
orialcxcx"

 

[reb0118]

In case some minor amends are of help : strikethroughs for deletions, Underlines for suggested additions, not that they would need to be underlined in what you send. I think I have included Haywain's helpful amends for your ease of reference



My current email draft is as follows:

"*contact details including correct address and telephone number* (might it possibly help them match your case if you also cited the address they would have had on their records from when you were stopped? Of course you would need to make it 100% clear this address was no longer to be used - their ref number may be enough however)

To whom it may concern[S/] Dear Sir or Madam,

I hope this email finds you well. I am writing regarding a prosecution made by your company against myself[s/] me at Barkingside Magistrates' Court on the 29/11/24 under case reference ********* for the offence:

• On 05/05/2024 at Tottenham Hale station, not being in a designated compulsory ticket area, entered a train for the purpose of travelling without having with you a valid ticket entitling you to travel. Contrary to 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, as amended by Section 46 of the Railways Act 2005.

I did not receive a court summons or Single Justice Procedure Notice.I had no knowledge of the Court proceedings and did not receive a Court summons. Therefore, I have been advised that I must submit a Statutory Declaration to the Court, which I have now done so (please find attached my Statutory Declaration. for your perusal).[s/]

I am[s/] deeply regretful[s/] that this matter has progressed the way that it has, and I sincerely[s/] apologise for the significant[s/] inconvenience that this must have[s/] has caused you[s/]. I can only apologise for the circumstances that led to my ignorance of the my Court proceedings, which involved a change of address 2[s/] two months after the incident which ultimately resulted in led to the Court action.

I just wanted to keep you updated with the submission of the Statutory Declaration to minimise further inconvenience and keep you fully informed of my intentions.

I understand that no decisions can be made until after the Statutory Declaration is accepted by the Court, but I wanted to indicate that I would be grateful if you would kindly consider settling the matter out of court. I would of course be, and always have been, prepared to pay any fare that I owe financial penalty you deem appropriate for the offence and to compensate for loss of revenue due to my overlooking the expiry of my Railcard as I had no intention to evade paying the correct fare.

I hope to hear from you soon[s/]. I await your response

Kind regards[s/] Yours faithfully,

orialcxcx"

 

[island]

Just a reminder that to be valid, a statutory declaration must be on a printed piece of paper, which you have physically signed in the presence of a solicitor/commissioner for oaths/justice of the peace. An SD cannot be made online.

 

[WesternLancer]

Hi. @reb0118 It can’t have been your intention but whatever amends being suggested they are not displaying clearly.

 

[orialcxcx]

Thank you everyone for your input. I am heading to a solicitors in a couple of hours to make the SD. Quick question- does anyone know if I should be making the SD under Section 14 or Section 16E (of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980)? If not, I'm hoping the solicitor can tell me!

Edit: my research tells me that Section 14 applies when the case started with a summons and Section 16E applies when it started with a SJP notice. This leaves me a bit puzzled because I obviously don't know how mine started!

Edit 2: I have confirmed with HMCTS that the case WAS started with the SJP notice as we suspected and will adjust my SD and cover letter accordingly. They are sending me the web form (and a statement of facts including the SJP notice?) that I believe @island was alluding to. I am aware I still need to submit the SD on paper via the solicitors and will do so this afternoon.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you everyone for your input. I am heading to a solicitors in a couple of hours to make the SD. Quick question- does anyone know if I should be making the SD under Section 14 or Section 16E (of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980)? If not, I'm hoping the solicitor can tell me!

Edit: my research tells me that Section 14 applies when the case started with a summons and Section 16E applies when it started with a SJP notice. This leaves me a bit puzzled because I obviously don't know how mine started!

Edit 2: I have confirmed with HMCTS that the case WAS started with the SJP notice as we suspected and will adjust my SD and cover letter accordingly. They are sending me the web form (and a statement of facts including the SJP notice?) that I believe @island was alluding to. I am aware I still need to submit the SD on paper via the solicitors and will do so this afternoon.

Whilst I am sorry I don't know the answer to this, I hope things go smoothly. Hopefully a solicitor would help answer a basic question about this without levying an additional charge.

 

[orialcxcx]

The SD text is fine - the court will pay little attention if it's in date and have very few grounds to reject it. It's basically an administrative matter.

You may want to add in your cover letter to the court when you submit the SD, that if the prosecution was started under the single justice procedure, you wish to plead not guilty and wish to appear in court.

This will give you time to negotiate with the TOC and you can change your plea with little loss of Early Guilty Plea discount should you fail to reach an agreement.

Replying to this answer just for some clarification. My SD has now been signed. I'm now just left with the plea to deal with.

I am very nervous about pleading Not Guilty. I'm worried about Greater Anglia refusing to settle out of court and then I'm left with a Not Guilty plea that I somehow have to justify. From my research, changing my plea is very difficult and requires a compelling reason to do so and I can't think of one. If Greater Anglia do not settle, I dread the idea of having to either change my plea (I wouldn't even know how to go about doing that) or defend a Not Guilty plea in Court when objectively it can be proven that I knew I was guilty (especially having signed the form in the station on the day where the answer "No" was written in response to the question "Did you have a valid ticket for this journey when travelling?”)

How likely are Greater Anglia to settle? Especially under the circumstances of a Not Guilty plea. My thought process is that when they receive confirmation of acceptance of the SD, surely they will also receive my plea Not Guilty, which when trying to settle with them, explaining that the expired railcard was a genuine oversight and not an intentional attempt to evade a fare is admission that I am in fact Guilty.

How likely is the case to be immediately closed if I pled "Guilty and I do not wish to appear in Court" or would they give me the opportunity to provide financial details first (as is the norm in SJP notice but obviously will not do in this written plea) therefore giving me the time to try and settle?

Is it possible for me to plead "Guilty and I wish to appear in Court", meaning the case can't be closed straight away, I settle and Greater Anglia contact the Court to withdraw Court action?

Or am I misunderstanding everything completely

 

[Titfield]

I think you are misunderstanding this.

There was little point making a statutory declaration if you then plead guilty as you will then be back where you started.

As @WesternLancer explained up thread the purpose of making a statutory declaration and pleading not guilty was to buy time for you to discuss the matter with Greater Anglia and hopefully persuade them / encourage them to offer you an out of court settlement.

If they offer you an out of court settlement, you accept it and settle it, then the court case will be withdrawn by Greater Anglia.

On the basis of what you have said, and assuming there is nothing else, there is a good chance that Greater Anglia will make an offer of an out of court settlement providing you contact them and follow the advice given (see post #13 by @WesternLancer )

 

[orialcxcx]

I think you are misunderstanding this.

There was little point making a statutory declaration if you then plead guilty as you will then be back where you started.

As @WesternLancer explained up thread the purpose of making a statutory declaration and pleading not guilty was to buy time for you to discuss the matter with Greater Anglia and hopefully persuade them / encourage them to offer you an out of court settlement.

If they offer you an out of court settlement, you accept it and settle it, then the court case will be withdrawn by Greater Anglia.

On the basis of what you have said, and assuming there is nothing else, there is a good chance that Greater Anglia will make an offer of an out of court settlement providing you contact them and follow the advice given (see post #13 by @WesternLancer )

I think I understand. I just am slightly confused as to why pleading “Guilty and I wish to attend Court” can’t result in the outcome, as surely that achieves the same aim of reopening the case and setting a new Court date, leaving me time to settle out of court?

Regardless, I think i’m just getting cold feet and I appreciate that you all understand this process better than I ever could.

I will post SD and plea tomorrow, and send the email to Greater Anglia.

One more quick question if anyone can help- now I know I was tried under the SJP, should reword as:

“I have learned that the prosecution was started under the Single Justice Procedure. I wish to plead not guilty and I wish to appear in Court”

or

“I did not receive a court summons or Single Justice Procedure Notice. I have now learned that the prosecution was started under the Single Justice Procedure. I wish to plead not guilty and I wish to appear in Court”

I learned this through a phone call with HMCTS today- is how I found out worth including?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Feb 2025 ==

Sorry one further question (if you can’t tell I’m having quite an anxious evening!):

I should have mentioned this earlier but I work in a regulated profession and have been going through all the usual means of declaring this to my employer and regulatory body. If I plead not guilty and I end up in Court and found guilty, would that count as a probity issue/dishonesty?

 

[WesternLancer]

Replying to this answer just for some clarification. My SD has now been signed. I'm now just left with the plea to deal with.

I am very nervous about pleading Not Guilty. I'm worried about Greater Anglia refusing to settle out of court and then I'm left with a Not Guilty plea that I somehow have to justify. From my research, changing my plea is very difficult and requires a compelling reason to do so and I can't think of one. If Greater Anglia do not settle, I dread the idea of having to either change my plea (I wouldn't even know how to go about doing that) or defend a Not Guilty plea in Court when objectively it can be proven that I knew I was guilty (especially having signed the form in the station on the day where the answer "No" was written in response to the question "Did you have a valid ticket for this journey when travelling?”)

How likely are Greater Anglia to settle? Especially under the circumstances of a Not Guilty plea. My thought process is that when they receive confirmation of acceptance of the SD, surely they will also receive my plea Not Guilty, which when trying to settle with them, explaining that the expired railcard was a genuine oversight and not an intentional attempt to evade a fare is admission that I am in fact Guilty.

How likely is the case to be immediately closed if I pled "Guilty and I do not wish to appear in Court" or would they give me the opportunity to provide financial details first (as is the norm in SJP notice but obviously will not do in this written plea) therefore giving me the time to try and settle?

Is it possible for me to plead "Guilty and I wish to appear in Court", meaning the case can't be closed straight away, I settle and Greater Anglia contact the Court to withdraw Court action?

Or am I misunderstanding everything completely

Greater Anglua are very likely to want to settle.

If for no other reason they get to keep the settlement money they ask you to pay. A court fine goes to government instead, not the railway company.

By pleading not guilty and asking for a court hearing you are asking for the magistrates to decide on the evidence. But more relevantly you can change the plea to guilty if the railway won’t settle out of court and you can do this late in the day as I understand it. Happy to be corrected by experts if I am wrong.

 

[orialcxcx]

Greater Anglua are very likely to want to settle.

If for no other reason they get to keep the settlement money they ask you to pay. A court fine goes to government instead, not the railway company.

By pleading not guilty and asking for a court hearing you are asking for the magistrates to decide on the evidence. But more relevantly you can change the plea to guilty if the railway won’t settle out of court and you can do this late in the day as I understand it. Happy to be corrected by experts if I am wrong.

That makes sense, and that has reassured me, thank you.

 

[WesternLancer]

I think I understand. I just am slightly confused as to why pleading “Guilty and I wish to attend Court” can’t result in the outcome, as surely that achieves the same aim of reopening the case and setting a new Court date, leaving me time to settle out of court?

Regardless, I think i’m just getting cold feet and I appreciate that you all understand this process better than I ever could.

I will post SD and plea tomorrow, and send the email to Greater Anglia.

One more quick question if anyone can help- now I know I was tried under the SJP, should reword as:

“I have learned that the prosecution was started under the Single Justice Procedure. I wish to plead not guilty and I wish to appear in Court”

or

“I did not receive a court summons or Single Justice Procedure Notice. I have now learned that the prosecution was started under the Single Justice Procedure. I wish to plead not guilty and I wish to appear in Court”

I learned this through a phone call with HMCTS today- is how I found out worth including?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 20 Feb 2025 ==

Sorry one further question (if you can’t tell I’m having quite an anxious evening!):

I should have mentioned this earlier but I work in a regulated profession and have been going through all the usual means of declaring this to my employer and regulatory body. If I plead not guilty and I end up in Court and found guilty, would that count as a probity issue/dishonesty?

Sorry. I didn’t address the issue ref your profession. I don’t know the answer to that, if that scenario came to happen. But I think in the event of the railway company refusing to settle, which in my opinion is unlikely, you could change your plea and thus avoid that issue I would think.

Separately. Have you now sent your letter / message to GA? This is the start of your approach to getting them on side.

 

[Hadders]

I think I understand. I just am slightly confused as to why pleading “Guilty and I wish to attend Court” can’t result in the outcome, as surely that achieves the same aim of reopening the case and setting a new Court date, leaving me time to settle out of court?

As far as the court is concerned pleading guilty means exactly that - you're guilty and all that would happen at the rearranged court case is that they would impose a punishment. Attending in person wouldn't change guilt, it would just mean you could present your mitigation in person.

Pleading not guilty also means the court will have to schedule a date for a trial and knowing court workload that is likely to be many weeks (if not months) into the future. That gives you time to rearrange an out of court settlement with the train company which, once settled, would mean they withdraw the court case.

 

[orialcxcx]

Thank you everyone for answering my questions.

SD including Not Guilty plea sent, LCCC emailed to hold enforcement and email to GA/ITAL sent (copied them both in as I think ITAL possibly even deals with any out of court settlements on their behalf also)!

Now we wait…

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you everyone for answering my questions.

SD including Not Guilty plea sent, LCCC emailed to hold enforcement and email to GA/ITAL sent (copied them both in as I think ITAL possibly even deals with any out of court settlements on their behalf also)!

Now we wait…

Sounds all good. Initial stages sound like all done to plan. Head back as you start to receive replies if you need more advice.

 

[orialcxcx]

No responses yet from anyone- trying to be patient but starting to get a bit twitchy!

Only replies have been from IRCAS from when I replied to our email chain informing them of my change in address asking for a copy of my webform (I ended up realising that on desktop if I load the full message on their original reply to the webform that a copy of my webform message comes up!) and they replied saying my case was with the ITAL prosecutions department and also copied ITAL into that chain so they have access to that now. Used the same email address to send my ‘indication of wanting to settle’ email but no reply.

I also got a reply from LCCC after I told them I had submitted an SD:
“To be clear, unless the court directly instructs/orders us to hold enforcement, you are expected to pay the court fine imposed against you; and failing to pay your court fine will result in further enforcement being actioned against you to collect the outstanding court fine balance owed on account.
Therefore, as it stands, you are expected to pay your court fine of £490.90 in full immediately.”

This hasn’t helped the living in fear and my heart is racing every time I get a door knock thinking it’s the bailiffs. I haven’t paid the fine yet. The email does also say “Any money received will be refunded, as per court order, if your appeal is successful” so I am wondering if I should just pay it for now, if anyone has any advice on that?

SD was received by the Court on Monday 24th Feb (special delivery) and again, no reply from there either.

I made sure on all correspondence that my “new” address was clearly indicated but am nervous that has been ignored.

 

[Vanessaaa]

No responses yet from anyone- trying to be patient but starting to get a bit twitchy!

Only replies have been from IRCAS from when I replied to our email chain informing them of my change in address asking for a copy of my webform (I ended up realising that on desktop if I load the full message on their original reply to the webform that a copy of my webform message comes up!) and they replied saying my case was with the ITAL prosecutions department and also copied ITAL into that chain so they have access to that now. Used the same email address to send my ‘indication of wanting to settle’ email but no reply.

I also got a reply from LCCC after I told them I had submitted an SD:
“To be clear, unless the court directly instructs/orders us to hold enforcement, you are expected to pay the court fine imposed against you; and failing to pay your court fine will result in further enforcement being actioned against you to collect the outstanding court fine balance owed on account.
Therefore, as it stands, you are expected to pay your court fine of £490.90 in full immediately.”

This hasn’t helped the living in fear and my heart is racing every time I get a door knock thinking it’s the bailiffs. I haven’t paid the fine yet. The email does also say “Any money received will be refunded, as per court order, if your appeal is successful” so I am wondering if I should just pay it for now, if anyone has any advice on that?

SD was received by the Court on Monday 24th Feb (special delivery) and again, no reply from there either.

I made sure on all correspondence that my “new” address was clearly indicated but am nervous that has been ignored.

Hi, I was wondering if you could provide an update in your case, if you are happy to share? I am currently in a very similar situation to you with Greater Anglia, and have only just sent my Statutory Declaration.

Sorry I'm new to the forum and can't provide much advice, but I was wondering how your case had progressed, so I know what to expect.

 

[orialcxcx]

Hi, I was wondering if you could provide an update in your case, if you are happy to share? I am currently in a very similar situation to you with Greater Anglia, and have only just sent my Statutory Declaration.

Sorry I'm new to the forum and can't provide much advice, but I was wondering how your case had progressed, so I know what to expect.

Hello! I’m sorry to hear you’re in a similar situation to me, it was very stressful going through it and I wouldn’t wish it upon anyone!

I meant to update this thread sooner but have started a new job in the meantime and become busy- but this week actually I received a reply from prosecutions@ital-uk.com after a LOT of chasing which stated:

“The £107.90 was the amount we offered in our first letter to you, sent to your old address. This will be considered as the out of court settlement and, upon receipt of full payment, we can instruct the court to re-open and withdraw the matter from all legal proceedings. Any monies paid to the court would be reimbursed to you.”

I paid and that was the matter closed!

Unfortunately, in the meantime, having not paid the £478 fine whilst awaiting the SD to be accepted, LCCC made an Attachment of Earnings Order and the fine was taken from my most recent payslip. I am still awaiting this money to be refunded and suspect it may take a while.

I will note- I never personally received notice from the Court that my SD was accepted but ITAL (which is the parent company of IRCAS, which I wasn’t originally aware) confirmed that they had. I think despite my best efforts it must have still gone to my previous address but now of course it doesn’t matter and my criminal record is clean!

But I would advise that the above email address is the best point of contact. It seems that ITAL deal with prosecutions on behalf of Greater Anglia at all points of the process.

I hope that helps!

And whilst I’m here, I would like to sincerely thank everyone in this thread that helped me, I really appreciate it and I don’t think I would have got this result I needed without everyone’s advice. Thank you so much.