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A court ruling certainly isn't pointless if it upholds a defence argument that no offence under Section 5(1) RoRA was committed because name and address was given. But the point that I was making is that it would be futile for a TOC to seek such a ruling if it were an interpretation to which...

Songs from Don Bilston's "Farewell to Steam". Trotting 'em north on a bow-legged engine If you fire a Caprotti get a cast iron back Sparks as big as oranges coming out the front end Aye lad, that's the way

I agree. The obtuseness of the media in failing to see what's under their noses is breathtaking. Every journalist involved must by now know that the SJPNs that triggered this disaster were posted to defendants. So from where, in the multitude of Section 5(1) prosecutions wrongly begun by SJP...

Ah, now understood, and my apologies for having got the wrong end of the stick. I'm inclined to agree with your assessment of the way the authorities are approaching this, although, having read the draft protocols @KirkstallOne has kindly uploaded, the government/judicial actors involved appear...

In what way? I had to look this up in order to discover that it's pejorative, and I genuinely don't understand what prompted so derogatory a comment. If the Chief Magistrate and HMCTS/MoJ/DfT consider that the affected cases need to be listed so that a declaration can be made that they are...

At the forefront of my mind when composing my previous post was this settlement offer, issued with the SJPN in the Preston case to which I have previously referred. A Northern case rather than one brought by Chiltern, and to my way of thinking having every appearance of being a...

The Chief Magistrate was obliged to confine himself to a decision on how to deal with the six test cases that were transferred to his court as 'live' cases that had not been subject to final disposal. As published, his judgment is incoherent (is it nothing more than a court reporter's transcript...

Unless there is other relevant material from the Final Appeals Panel that hasn't been uploaded, that Panel's notification of the appeal's outcome clearly fails to meet the requirements of Regulation 18(3) and Paragraph 7(b) in Schedule 2 of the Railways (Penalty Fares) Regulations 2018. I am...

That was the impression I too formed. It's worth bearing in mind that a second or subsequent conviction for a Section 5(3) RoRA offence can result in a custodial sentence, so unless the existence of a prior conviction for such an offence can be checked by the prospective prosecutor there is a...

Response to my FOI request in connection with current action being taken by DfT, MoJ and HMCTS can be seen at https://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/information_pertinent_to_the_rev?nocache=incoming-2709644#incoming-2709644

The CM's proposed course of declaring void all SJP prosecutions commenced by a body that was not, for that purpose, a 'relevant prosecutor' is one to which I am increasingly attracted. If any railway operator takes a different view it has the option of challenging such a declaration in the High...

Agree with NTL and GA that Section 142 MCA 1980 seems to be the only way to obtain quashing of wrongful convictions. Seems to confirm my understanding that there is no mechanism by which the state can reverse a mass miscarriage of justice – hence the Horizon Offences legislation was intended to...

I agree; some of the media reports seem so fixated upon the SJP leading to people being convicted without a hearing that they are missing the equally important point that there have been prosecutions (Sarah Cook's being one) where the Section 5(1) RoRA offence cannot have been committed...

Just seen the ITV Calendar item, which has left me puzzled. It seemed to confirm that Northern Trains had agreed not to proceed with its prosecution of Sarah Cook in return for a payment from her of her £4 fare. But if Northern's prosecution didn't go ahead, as the piece suggested, there...

'Alfred the Great' class Webb Compound on the right, 'Benbow' class derivative with outside motion on the left. No idea as to location!

It is unfortunate that the response from the Chief Magistrate's Office doesn't identify the authority on which he claims the right to intervene in what appear to be cases that have previously been decided. So far as I can tell, the most likely basis for such intervention is by reference to Part...

The premise that underlies the criminal justice system is that it is up to the aggrieved defendant to exercise the available rights of appeal in order to secure redress for a wrongful conviction, rather than a state institution taking the initiative to rectify an injustice. I am not aware of...

I appreciate that if the Chief Magistrate is correct in concluding that the RoRA prosecutions begun by SJP are nullities and therefore void, their status may well be different from cases in which a conviction has been obtained without such irregularity. Nevertheless, it is noteworthy that the...

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring: “My initial view which has crystalised over a week of research is that all of the offences not covered by the 2016 order and prosecuted in the Single Justice Procedure are void and therefore a nullity.” Well, yes, that was the conclusion I reached back in May...

I've read the article in the Standard and note DfT OLR Holdings Ltd's (aka Northern Trains) statement that "We stopped bringing new cases under the single justice procedure for offences under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 in January and are reviewing its previous use." So when are they...