Section 5 prosecution letter

[Jozika]

I was travelling from montpellier to Cardiff Central station to visit a friend who was in distress. There was no ticket machine to purchase a ticket and no conductor came up to me during my journey. So when I got to Cardiff I approached a ticket officer and asked for a ticket from Newport. A man then came over wearing a green bib who I assume was a revenue officer? He cautioned me and under questioning I broke down and confessed that I had started my journey from Bristol Temple meads/ montpellier. He said that I would be prosecuted under section 5 for trying to avoid paying the full fair in this way.

I received a letter 28th Jan 2015 from transport investigation Ltd (the collection agency) saying that I may be prosecuted and that I should submit any mitigation that I think is related to the situation. I am an honest and responsible person and have never tried to steal or avoid paying for anything like this before. Having no money but desperate to see my friend I acted irresponsibly and I accept this.

I would like some advice as to what is likely to happen next and what course of action I should take in order to resolve the situation as simply as possible and incurr the minimal amount of costs/ legal action.

I have a photo of the transcript the office made from our conversation under caution, which I can upload if it is useful for you to see.

Thank you all in advance.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

Unfortunately, passengers giving the name of a station which is much closer to their final destination than the true start of their journey has been happening for decades, and is clearly recognised as an intentional evasion of the fare due. It is captured under Section 5 of the Regulation of Railways Act.

It is always possible for a passenger to attempt to offer a settlement as an alternative to Court proceedings, but Arriva Trains Wales do not have a reputation for enthusiastically accepting these offers - they face massive degrees of fare evasion, and are eager to reverse that trend.

I suggest that you do send what mitigation you can, which might include any history free of previous convictions, your income, your age, and your cooperation with the investigation.

If you want to attempt to make an offer of an adminstrative settlement, then do so, but as TIL are not normally going to have the discretion to do so, you'll have to explain that you want your offer to be considered by Arriva (or whichever Railway Company it was who interviewed you).

If the prosecution goes ahead, you are likely to be given a fine and costs plus the cost of the full fare which remaiins due. This might total somewhere between £200 and £300.

 

[headshot119]

Unfortunately, passengers giving the name of a station which is much closer to their final destination than the true start of their journey has been happening for decades, and is clearly recognised as an intentional evasion of the fare due. It is captured under Section 5 of the Regulation of Railways Act.

It is always possible for a passenger to attempt to offer a settlement as an alternative to Court proceedings, but Arriva Trains Wales do not have a reputation for enthusiastically accepting these offers - they face massive degrees of fare evasion, and are eager to reverse that trend.

I suggest that you do send what mitigation you can, which might include any history free of previous convictions, your income, your age, and your cooperation with the investigation.

If you want to attempt to make an offer of an adminstrative settlement, then do so, but as TIL are not normally going to have the discretion to do so, you'll have to explain that you want your offer to be considered by Arriva (or whichever Railway Company it was who interviewed you).

If the prosecution goes ahead, you are likely to be given a fine and costs plus the cost of the full fare which remaiins due. This might total somewhere between £200 and £300.

Dave just as a note to the OP, if they where stopped at Cardiff Central, and the member of staff was wearing a green bib it's 99% certain they where an ATW revenue officer.

 

[Flamingo]

Dave just as a note to the OP, if they where stopped at Cardiff Central, and the member of staff was wearing a green bib it's 99% certain they where an ATW revenue officer.

They would have done their journey on two FGW trains - I don't know if this has any effect on the ATW Prosecutions Dept ability to accept an out of court settlement or not.

The OP would have been on two trains, with two different guards. To coin a phrase, to miss one guard is unfortunate, to miss two smacks of carelessness! By "The guard never approached me" I wonder if the OP means "I stared out the window while the guard walked past saying "Any more tickets"?"

 

[Mag_seven]

....There was no ticket machine to purchase a ticket and no conductor came up to me during my journey..... Having no money but desperate to see my friend I acted irresponsibly and I accept this....

If you had "no money", how would you have paid if there was a ticket machine or the conductor did come up to you?

 

[Flamingo]

If you had "no money", how would you have paid if there was a ticket machine or the conductor did come up to you?

I wasn't even pointing out that little hole in the tale of sorrow and woe...

 

[cjmillsnun]

They would have done their journey on two FGW trains - I don't know if this has any effect on the ATW Prosecutions Dept ability to accept an out of court settlement or not.

The OP would have been on two trains, with two different guards. To coin a phrase, to miss one guard is unfortunate, to miss two smacks of carelessness! By "The guard never approached me" I wonder if the OP means "I stared out the window while the guard walked past saying "Any more tickets"?"

I think the effect on ATW's ability to accept an out of court settlement is similar to the damage caused to a bulldozer if it ran over Arthur Dent.

 

[timbo58]

If you had no money it makes no difference whether you travelled from A-Z or A-B frankly, it's an open & shut case.

You cannot argue you were willing to pay and did not intend to avoid the fare due since you couldn't pay the fare at the time of travel.

That being the case, whether its ATW or FGW investigating, you are 'a dead duck'.

Would a bus driver/taxi driver have taken you without the means to pay? No they would not.

You took advantage of the fact the railway allows passengers to travel before having to pay in the hope you could get away without paying, presumably intending to do the same on your return journey, this is the same as running out of a supermarket with a trolley full of stuff or driving off with petrol without paying, or stealing a car -what would you call people that do that?
I am confident if caught doing any of those examples you wouldn't have been given the courtesy of being reported for prosecution and being given the opportunity of giving your side or having a fairly lenient judicial remedy at the end of it, if you don't believe me try doing any of them!

Next time you are desperate to travel to see someone and can't pay for it I would suggest walking, or hitchhiking, neither are illegal although they'll take longer, granted.

 

[Jozika]

DaveNewcastle, thank you for your structured and pragmatic response - it has been very helpful. I am genuinely remorseful and simply want to understand the process and make the best of a bad situation. It was nice to see someone rise above the usual temptation to sneer and pillory people seeking help and advice with open and honest questions.

Thanks

Jozika

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