Summons Letter

[anders27]

Hello, i received a summons letter the other day stating :

On the Saturday 18th May 2013 between Brentwood and Liverpool Street station did contravene Byelaw no 21 (3) of the Railway Byelaws made under Section 219 and Schedule 20 of the Transport Act 2000, in accordance withe the Railways Act 2005, in that you did knowingly use a ticket which had been transferred or partly used contrary to the conditions of use of the ticket.

Basically i used my girlfriends monthly rail ticket. At the time i wasn't aware this was against the law as i thought it was valid ticket, now i know this is not the case. I got on at brentwood went 3 stops to Romford where i was meeting a friend before travelling to Liverpool Street. The inspectors stop me at Romford and informed me that this wasn't a valid ticket. I had my details taken, and i purchased a new valid ticket.

After looking at a number of threads on here i plan to write a letter to the prosecutor to try and settle this out of court, as it was my first offence. I would be most grateful if i could get some help with this letter, and your opinion on what the likely out come will be.

The prosecutors are Abellio Greater Anglia.

 

[cuccir]

Is this the first correspondence that you've had on the issue? It is unusual to receive a summons letter without first being offered a chance to explain yourself. If you have already written to them then anything said in that correspondence might affect the advice below (eg if you've already offered to settle and they rejected, or if you were particularly rude/indignant in your previous response!).

Writing to the prosecutor, apologizing, noting (as you do in this post) that you were unaware that what you did was illegal, and that you have now fully familiarized yourself with the regulations, seems a good move. Offer to pay the fare due for the journey, and administrative costs incurred to date.

Note that as a summons has already been issued, the chance of the prosecutor choosing to settle out of court is lower, and the fee you'll have to pay is likely to be higher. However, it is also still common to settle at this stage. The good news for you is that a prosecution under the Railway Byelaws is a less serious issue than under other possible legislation: it would result in a fine, but not a criminal record.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

I'm going to make a guess here, and assume that the Company has not sent any earlier letter asking the passenger for their version of events because the statement given at the time of the incident was adequate to provide all the evidence required to make a decision. And, that the evidence included a statement from the passenger including a comprehensive admission confirming that they willfully used another person's ticket when asked to provide a valid ticket for inspection, and provided the ticket as evidence.

If that is true, then it is understandable that the Company would proceed directly to a prosecution.

However, that still leaves some room for an attempt at an out of court settlement, though not much. In the face of such impressive evidence against the passenger, including a full admission, then it might be worth getting a local law firm to assist, one which specialises in Criminal defence work.

[If my assumptions are incorrect then please disregard this advice].

 

[anders27]

Thanks for the reply's.

I did receive a letter a while ago but i'm having trouble remembering what it said and as of the moment i can't locate it. I believe it was just to inform me that they were looking at the evidence, reviewing the case to see whether they intend to go ahead and prosecute. I wasn't sure what step was next and thought the most likely reply would be a fine in the post and not court action (another mistake i made).

Do you think it still would be worthwhile writing to them and see if they would settle as it is my first offence? And sorry if i have mistaken you but did you say i wouldn't get a criminal record, even tho it comes under the Railway Act 2005?

 

[455driver]

If you are prosecuted under the Regulation of Railways Act then there is a fair chance you will get a criminal record if found guilty, if it is under the railway bylaws then you will not get one.

 

[bb21]

If you are prosecuted under the Regulation of Railways Act then there is a fair chance you will get a criminal record if found guilty

Not a fair chance any more in that case, that would be a certain criminal record.

 

[DaveNewcastle]

But in the OP, anders27 said that they are pursing a Byelaw offence (which should NOT result in a Criminal record).

In post # 4 where anders27 refers to "Railway Act 2005", that is merely the 'enabling Act' which allows the Railway Byelaws to come into existence. The Offence that is being prosecuted is still a Byelaw offence. It could have been worse!

 

[anders27]

Yeah sorry i'm not very good when it comes to the legislation.

I have now drafted up a letter which i intend to send, but before i do i was hoping someone who has had some experience and success in sending or helping others in an out of court settlement would proof read my letter.