Was my daughter "ripped off" by bus fine?

Wanabe-frugal

My (slightly learning disabled) step-daughter arrived home in tears yesterday because she was made to pay a £25 fine for not having a valid ticket on a London bus and she was "caught" by a ticket inspector. HOWEVER, the behaviour of the ticket inspector was really unfair, bordering on very dodgy. We would be very grateful if anyone could advise about the legality and correctness of the ticket inspectors actions, based on the following:

- E. got on the bus at New Cross
- Her Oyster card did not have enough money for the journey home
- E. offered the driver a £20 note (her emergency stash) to buy a ticket
- Driver said he had no change
- E. moved into the crowded bus, a little, to allow others onto bus while she searched for some change in her bag
- Not clear if Ticket inspector got on and bus moved off OR if bus moved off and Ticket inspector got on at next stop
- E. (still looking for change) almost immediately "caught" without ticket, explained she was trying to find change and had attempted to pay with £20.
- Ticket inspector said she must now pay a fine of £25. E. didn't have this much so she was made to get off at Greenwich (with the Ticket inspector following her) and go to her bank ATM and get some more money. While the Ticket inspector watched and waited for her.
- Ticket inspector took £25 and left without giving a receipt. He had said that if E. wanted a receipt then the fine would have to be taken to court.
- E. had panicked during the whole experience and does not have a receipt for the money she took out, no name or id of the ticket inspector and no receipt for the fine.

This seems really dodgy to My wife and I, as we would expect to get a receipt for any fine - otherwise the Ticket inspector could simply pocket the fine money as a "perk" of the job.

We have told E. all the things she should have done differently, i.e. get off bus immediately and top-up Oyster card, get receipts and name of inspector if fined and make sure she has emergency stash of change too!

jayok

Yes very dodgy although it will be one word against another and I assume you have no details of the ticket inspector

paulofessex

Don't buses have CCTV these days, the bus company must also have records of which inspector was on which route on a given day etc etc. Also most ATM's have CCTV therefore a complaint to the police for possible demanding money by meances would result in CCTV being reviewed to establish if the handover of cash was caught on camera.

I would not let this matter lie, l feel the best route would be via making a complaint to the police as they would be able to have direct access to things we the joe public would'nt i.e. reviewing CCTV footage.

Best of luck with it

w.dws

Was the guy actually a ticket inspector with a uniform and ID or just a chancer who took advantage of the situation unfolding before him? First port of call contact the bus company with bus number and time of journey, second port of call police.

verybigchris

paulofessex beat me to it. This is theft, plain and simple, as without a receipt there's no way the inspector handed in the "fine". Call the police and get the bus company to hand over the CCTV (which they are legally obliged to do under the Data Protection Act). Please don't give this one up as I'm sure this won't be a one-off.

anewman

paulofessex wrote: »

l feel the best route would be via making a complaint to the police as they would be able to have direct access to things we the joe public would'nt i.e. reviewing CCTV footage.

Depends on whether the police see it as priority. Being mugged for £25, probably not priority for the police. GBH, murder, rape, racial hatred (such as calling a black man black) are priority to the police.

robt_2

anewman wrote: »

Depends on whether the police see it as priority. Being mugged for £25, probably not priority for the police. GBH, murder, rape, racial hatred (such as calling a black man black) are priority to the police.

Telling a local paper that a girl with learning disabilities was mugged and the police refused to do anything about it will make it a priority.

We all know that £25 went straight into his pocket and wasn't recorded. That is theft from the girl and his employer.