Child prosecution?

[Lisa80]

None of us were present so we cannot judge whether her questioning was an "interrogation" or not. Presumably she was asked to show her ticket; a child ticket was produced; the person checking the ticket then sought out the information needed to take the matter forward.

She is 16 - well above the age of criminal responsibility. So what action do you feel would have been reasonable under the circumstances?

She brought a child ticket from a machine at the station it was checked by a conductor with no questions and on leaving the station after putting her ticket to open the barrier she was pulled aside by i can only assume a transport police person as she thought she was being arrested by the police !!

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

She brought a child ticket from a machine at the station it was checked by a conductor with questions and on leaving the station after putting her ticket to open the barrier she was pulled aside by i can only assume a transport police person as she thought she was being arrested by the police !!

Which train company's ticket machine was this? Does she know whether the machine said what age group "child" is held to mean by the railway?

 

[nuts & bolts]

What if a person is aged 16 - 17 and still in further education? In the railway's eyes, is this person a child or an adult?

They can apply for an "Education" season ticket.

 

[Lisa80]

she was traveling from Prestatyn to Chester on a train from Holyhead which could have been any company virgin north west ? The ticket machine doesn’t have the name of company on.

 

[Ralph Ayres]

I'm slightly surprised the ticket machine didn't show a message about child tickets only being for under-16s. You are certainly told when buying on-line.

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

she was traveling from Prestatyn to Chester on a train from Holyhead which could have been any company virgin north west ? The ticket machine doesn’t have the name of company on.

The service itslef could have been either Transport for Wales or Virgin Trains, but all the stations along the north Wales coast are managed by Transport for Wales. However, Virgin Trains don't tend to go for prosecutions, so I'd suspect it's Transport for Wales. Did the ticket machine state any age limit for child tickets? Some ticket machines do, others don't.

 

[krus_aragon]

The fact that TfW are involved (their staff operate Chester station) adds an interesting angle to this. The new franchise announced among it's improvements:

Free travel for under 5s extended to under 11s. Half-price fares extended to 16 – 18 year-olds. Under 16s go free off peak when accompanied by a fare-paying adult.

No date has been set for this change (to my knowledge), but this may muddy the waters enough for TfW to choose not to prosecute, especially if one were to point this statement out to them.