Southern Railway - Taking me to court.

rids0wnz

Hey all,

Regular reader, first time poster, my apologies that my first post is effectively one asking for help.

I'm being taken to court by Southern Railways revenue protection team for an "unpaid" railfare. I use the term unpaid extremely loosely, because infact I hold an annual season ticket for the journey in question.

Circumstances are as follows. On the 25th of July 2011 I commenced my usual journey from Ifield into London Bridge, upon arriving at London Bridge a search of my pockets revealed my wallet but not my train pass. I approached the fares to pay counter at London Bridge and explained the situation to the revenue protection officer the situation. He issued me with he described as a 'Failure to Carry' - in essence a form listing my details, details of the journey and brief notes about me not having a ticket. There is a section about deliberate fair avoidance which has been crossed through by the Revenue Protection Officer in question. The form is a fair represensation of what occurred on the day, I'm happy that all the details on there are correct.

I was given a small tear off strip from the bottom of the form, which I was instructed to send back, along with a letter, and a copy of my rail ticket within 14 days, to avoid a penalty. Of course, I did this. I still have a copy of the original letter sent, however I have no proof of delivery or proof of postage... You can see where this is going.

Fast forward 4 months, in those 4 months I have not heard a single thing from Southern Railway about this issue, until this morning.. my birthday none the less, when a court summons arrives on my doorstep. I have been ordered to appear in front of a Magistrates Court to explain my non payment of this fare, they are seeking £14.40 for the "Unpaid" fare, and £105 in costs also.

My options are a) plead guilty in the post, take the fine and the costs, bend over and let Southern Railway have their merry way with me. b) plead guilty in person, take the fine and the costs, bend over and let Southern Railway have their merry way with. c) Plead not guilty in person - attend court on what is one of my busiest working days of the year, explain the circumstances, produce my annual rail card, try and avoid the £105 fine, and probably cost myself 3 times as much as that from not being at work. I am also concerned with how this will reflect on me professionally, I am an accountant and I believe that this will leave me with a criminal record, which is massively unjust.

I have tried to contact the Southern Prosecutions office to no avail, apparently they don't like to answer their phones.

Do any of you kind people have any advice for me?

Regards,

Chris

vax2002

You need some legal advice, you need the charge exploring to see if you have been correctly charged with the alleged offence.
If you do bend over as you say, you will become unemployable anyway as you will have a criminal record.
So if you want my opinion, you have no choice but to fight.
Magistrates courts are as good as guilty courts, so you may need to appeal the decision to get not guilty.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

A couple of things first - you could ask them to settle out of court - they like to do this sort of thing for unpaid train fares as its easier for them. In future though - always send these sorts of letters with a proff of signature so that it doesnt get to this stage.

For further, and proper advice from those within the industry who work specifically on these issues themselves then go HERE and they will give you the best advice for free before you go and see a brief.

Livingthedream

Strange, because you had a season ticket this penalty fare should have been dropped once you sent the slip in with your copy of your season ticket. Unless it got lost in the post or misplaced in southerns prosecutions office. Would advise reposting on the CAG forum as they are a specialist forum for this type of problem.

http://www.consumeractiongroup.co.uk/forum/forumdisplay.php?161-Public-transport-(Trains-tubes-and-buses)

fivetide

Just wondering. As with the DVLA would the burden not be on them to prove you didn't post it rather than you having to prove that you did?

Given you have an annual card you have no reason not to have sent it etc etc. If you do go to court, i'd go with not guilty. Not sure where you can get some free legal advice, tricky paying a legal beagle more than the actual fine is!

5t.

VfM4meplse

Livingthedream wrote: »

Strange, because you had a season ticket this penalty fare should have been dropped once you sent the slip in with your copy of your season ticket.

Don't expect any element of fairness when it comes to rail companies. They will fine the decent and upstanding, but let anyone who looks vaguely threatening get away with murder. Their processes are all about making money from honest passengers.

Jeff_Bridges_hair

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Don't expect any element of fairness when it comes to rail companies. They will fine the decent and upstanding, but let anyone who looks vaguely threatening get away with murder. Their processes are all about making money from honest passengers.

Of course it is. :T

Livingthedream

VfM4meplse wrote: »

Don't expect any element of fairness when it comes to rail companies. They will fine the decent and upstanding, but let anyone who looks vaguely threatening get away with murder. Their processes are all about making money from honest passengers.

To be honest I understand your opinion but I don't share it, one would have thought even if they (Train Companies) were in it to make money they would have still sent a rejection letter to the OP's appeal. Which makes me feel that the letter never got though to the Appeals office or got wrongly handled if it did arrive.

yorkie2

I concur with Jeff Bridges Hair about getting advice from people who specialise in railway ticketing matters.

I have some questions

1) Exactly what offence are you being prosecuted for? If it's a section 18 railway byelaw offence, then that is not for deliberate fare evasion, is a "strict liability" offence, intent does not need to be proven and it is NOT recordable so will not affect your job. If, however, it is under the 1889 regulation of railways act, for deliberate evasion, then they have to prove that you intended to avoid payment of the fare, that makes it harder for them to find you guilty HOWEVER you must still ensure that you are properly represented (if it does go to court) and if found guilty it will remain on a CRB Check for life, which may have employment implications. It is difficult to advise unless we know the exact offence that is being alleged.

2) Do you still have proof of holding a valid ticket on the date in question? Did you send the original ticket and keep a copy, did you send a copy, or did you send the original and now have no copy?

3) Have you tried contacting Southern about this? If so, has any progress been made?

missile

It seems you have a strong case, but you need legal advice. Most solicitors give a free initial consultation. If he feels you have a case and it would cost you so much to attend to defend in person, employ the solicitor to present your case.

Southern Rail may take notice of a letter from the solicitor and drop the case.

CarineG

How about going to Southern Railway in person with all the paperwork in question?