Govia Thameslink taking me to court for not having a valid ticket

[surib23]

Okay, would you advise I wait for a response from the email sent to the railway company or just find a way to plead not guilty as soon as possible

 

[WesternLancer]

Okay, would you advise I wait for a response from the email sent to the railway company or just find a way to plead not guilty as soon as possible

I'm afraid I don't know definitely - but it seems to me that time is needed to get the opportunity to settle out of court achieved (ie for an answer to the message you have set GTR to be considered by them and sent to you) and the way that it is often put on here to get more time is to plead not guilty so it gets scheduled for a court hearing, as opposed to the SJPN method which is basically to do as many as possible as quickly as possible on a paper based system to take up less court time.

If you wait for the e-mail to be replied to (which if it does not happen today by 5pm it will be too late I suspect) then you have lost the time to try and plead not guilty now, this afternoon, before the court opens on Monday morning

So it seems to me that if you can, plead not guilty as a way of doing that before Monday 3rd march then that might work.

But I don't know if this is possible to do because I don't know about court process.

But it's 2pm now, it maybe that if you ring the court - or go there before 5pm today (or whenever they close, or ASAP) you might be able to ask someone if there is a way that you can plead not guilty now.

I also do not know what the consequences of doing this might be in wider terms

I am sorry this is a reply of limited help

It may be that one of the forum regulars who seems to me to give knowledgeable info on court process (eg @Puffing Devil for example) might be able to shed some light - but the clock is ticking and they may not be watching the forum before close of play today

 

[Hadders]

This looks like a bit of an administrative mix-up, if you were offered a settlement with 14-days to pay (i.e. to pay by 28th February) it does seem a bit bizarre that GTR has withdrawn it.

I do think you should cover yourself with a Not Guilty plea asap to buy time to get the out of court settlement offer reinstated.

 

[WesternLancer]

This looks like a bit of an administrative mix-up, if you were offered a settlement with 14-days to pay (i.e. to pay by 28th February) it does seem a bit bizarre that GTR has withdrawn it.

I do think you should cover yourself with a Not Guilty plea asap to buy time to get the out of court settlement offer reinstated.

This does sound like a good idea to my non expert eyes. Hopefully @surib23 can get this to the court / into the court system in time so the court are aware of it

 

[surib23]

hey @WesternLancer and @Hadders thank you I did send an email pleading not guilty. I called the court and they said as long as I had emailed in they will be able to consider it on my case. Thank you for the advice, I will give an update on what happens next

 

[JordR]

It seems like GTR withdrew the settlement agreement when the deadline to plea under the SJPN expired with no response? That might just be me misreading the dates or coincidence. Either way, the 14 day timescale in the settlement letter was perhaps just a template that didn't get amended.

Remember the magistrates' court isn't seeing anything you're telling GTR and will be unaware that you are attempting to settle out of court, so you can't ignore anything that needs a response from them just because you're in discussions with GTR.

 

[WesternLancer]

hey @WesternLancer and @Hadders thank you I did send an email pleading not guilty. I called the court and they said as long as I had emailed in they will be able to consider it on my case. Thank you for the advice, I will give an update on what happens next

Ok. Thanks. Hopefully progress in the right direction.

This should create time for GTR to consider your e mail / letter of today. This is now the key next step I think. Did you post it? The reason you should do so is that GTR officially say they only accept this stuff by post.

Worth you checking with the court on Monday if what you were told actually happened, ie the not guilty plea was accepted and a later court date then set.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 28 Feb 2025 ==

It seems like GTR withdrew the settlement agreement when the deadline to plea under the SJPN expired with no response? That might just be me misreading the dates or coincidence. Either way, the 14 day timescale in the settlement letter was perhaps just a template that didn't get amended.

Remember the magistrates' court isn't seeing anything you're telling GTR and will be unaware that you are attempting to settle out of court, so you can't ignore anything that needs a response from them just because you're in discussions with GTR.

These seem like good points to me.

 

[Hadders]

If the case does end up at court then I think there's a good chance of getting it withdrawn on the day by the prosecutor if you take the letter dated 14th February showing you had 14 days to pay along with a copy of the emails you sent to GTR showing that you tried to pay it on the 28th but the offer had been withdrawn.

If it ended up in front of the Magistrates GTR would end up looking a bit incompetent.....

 

[Haywain]

If it ended up in front of the Magistrates GTR would end up looking a bit incompetent.....

They might well do, but the OP would still end up with a conviction because the incompetence doesn't affect the facts of the case.

 

[island]

They might well do, but the OP would still end up with a conviction because the incompetence doesn't affect the facts of the case.

Indeed.

As it stands, the OP might well want to try to hand-deliver a letter to Willesden Magistrates Court, or appear there first thing Monday morning, seeking to plead not guilty to the charge. Emails often fail to reach the right place and are not a legally competent way of lodging a plea.

 

[WesternLancer]

Indeed.

As it stands, the OP might well want to try to hand-deliver a letter to Willesden Magistrates Court, or appear there first thing Monday morning, seeking to plead not guilty to the charge. Emails often fail to reach the right place and are not a legally competent way of lodging a plea.

I think this is good advice and it’s what I would do if I could manage it.

 

[surib23]

Indeed.

As it stands, the OP might well want to try to hand-deliver a letter to Willesden Magistrates Court, or appear there first thing Monday morning, seeking to plead not guilty to the charge. Emails often fail to reach the right place and are not a legally competent way of lodging a plea.

I sent the an email to the address that was provided to me by the prosecutions office when I called and included the out of court settlement letter as well pleading not guilty. I called the magistrates and they confirmed that no plea had been entered and that I had to send the plea to email that was given to me. I also posted the letter to the GTR

 

[WesternLancer]

I sent the an email to the address that was provided to me by the prosecutions office when I called and included the out of court settlement letter as well pleading not guilty. I called the magistrates and they confirmed that no plea had been entered and that I had to send the plea to email that was given to me. I also posted the letter to the GTR

Well that does seem to be a reasonable and diligent attempt to do what ought to work.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[Puffing Devil]

If the case does end up at court then I think there's a good chance of getting it withdrawn on the day by the prosecutor if you take the letter dated 14th February showing you had 14 days to pay along with a copy of the emails you sent to GTR showing that you tried to pay it on the 28th but the offer had been withdrawn.

If it ended up in front of the Magistrates GTR would end up looking a bit incompetent.....

Indeed.

As it stands, the OP might well want to try to hand-deliver a letter to Willesden Magistrates Court, or appear there first thing Monday morning, seeking to plead not guilty to the charge. Emails often fail to reach the right place and are not a legally competent way of lodging a plea.

Agree with the above. GTR have dug themselves into a hole here as they have withdrawn an offer you have relied on, but have not adequately or fully communicated the withdrawal of the offer. The court may well take the opinion that the offer has been withdrawn in bad faith and that you should be allowed to proceed with the settlement.

I sent the an email to the address that was provided to me by the prosecutions office when I called and included the out of court settlement letter as well pleading not guilty. I called the magistrates and they confirmed that no plea had been entered and that I had to send the plea to email that was given to me. I also posted the letter to the GTR

That seems a good idea. You should reiterate in writing that you were ready and willing to settle within the timeframe provided and were waiting for funds to become available, which they did on the 28th. Make sure that you keep the money ready to settle if GTR ask for it.

I believe that GTR will come to a settlement - hopefully before it gets to court, though a deal on the day is a good possibility.

 

[coubpro]

It seems like GTR withdrew the settlement agreement when the deadline to plea under the SJPN expired with no response? That might just be me misreading the dates or coincidence. Either way, the 14 day timescale in the settlement letter was perhaps just a template that didn't get amended.

Remember the magistrates' court isn't seeing anything you're telling GTR and will be unaware that you are attempting to settle out of court, so you can't ignore anything that needs a response from them just because you're in discussions with GTR. Maybe a trip to Colorado Springs by coachamerica to clear my head would be perfect
I sent the an email to the address that was provided to me by the prosecutions office when I called and included the out of court settlement letter as well pleading not guilty. I called the magistrates and they confirmed that no plea had been entered and that I had to send the plea to email that was given to me. I also posted the letter to the GTR

It's good that you sent both a letter and an email - the court will probably take this into account. The most important thing is that you have all the evidence in hand. Will you try to contact GTR again before the hearing?

 

[surib23]

Thank you guys so much!!! the issue has now been resolved they reinstated out of court settlement and it’s been paid.

 

[Hadders]

Thanks for letting us know.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you guys so much!!! the issue has now been resolved they reinstated out of court settlement and it’s been paid.

This is good outcome of course.

I'd keep copies of all the paperwork and the confirmation of this (and your proof of payment) - long term - eg over a year.

Advice is often given on here that you should now separately check with the court that they are aware the court action has been withdrawn (in the event of some communications mess up between the railway and the court) and ideally get this in writing so that you can keep the evidence.

 

[surib23]

Thank you for the advice. They sent an email letting me know that once the payment has been made they will withdraw from the court. I sent them the transaction receipt I got after making payment. I will definitely call the court on Monday to find out if it’s been fully withdrawn. Thank you again!

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you for the advice. They sent an email letting me know that once the payment has been made they will withdraw from the court. I sent them the transaction receipt I got after making payment. I will definitely call the court on Monday to find out if it’s been fully withdrawn. Thank you again!

That’s good. Obviously phoning is a good idea. I’d be tempted to follow up the call but before any court date as was originally scheduled with copies of those from the railway company in an email to the court and asking the court to confirm

I know this is OTT but I seem to recall a case on here where it went wrong and there’s a lot of hassle to get a court to ‘undo’ a prosecution that should not have bBeen brought forward. Certainly more hassle than sending them an e mail along these lines before anything goes wrong

Of course likely no need but you don’t want to be wishing you’d done it if something administrative did go wrong.