No ticket - criminal record

System

Some routes have special rules on them that say you have to buy a ticket before you get on. Thankfully most routes don't have this rule! It tends to be a southern thing!

geordie_taxi

cheesypop wrote: »

I dont know how criminal records work, will having one for not paying a ticket stop her from traveling to the US, or getting credit etc?

when u get the letter of prosecution write a 'i'm really really sorry it wont happen again letter' and ask is there anyway to settle out of court by offering to cross their grubby palms with silver

the greedy train companies wont be able to resist the free money you offer them and will take your money and drop the case

parasites

geordie_taxi

Techno wrote: »

- is it not their job to make sure you have a valid ticket?

no drink tea read newspaper go on strike every so often

barbarawright

geordie_taxi wrote: »

u need to think before posting as incorrect drivel makes u look silly. most train conmpaines dont have that requirement when travelling by train



and miss the last free seat. come on wots wrong with the lazy guard doing his job and coming to you to sell a ticket



nice to see that you have labeled the OPs sister as a fare dodger. so much for innocent until proven guilty.

Nice to see you have labelled the guard as lazy.

Stigy

sulkisu wrote: »

The problem here is that fare evasion is what is known as a 'strict liability offence'

Fare evasion isn't Strict Liability, you're confusing it with a Byelaw Offence, which is Strict Liability. Fare evasion, which is a deliberate act to defraud the TOC of their fare, is would be contrary to the Regulation of Railways Act 1889 and is more serious than a Byelaw.

Cheesypop, Obviously the best advice here would be to ignore Geordie Taxi. Chances are, unless she either admitted her intention was to avoid paying her fare, or her actions indicated this was her intention, the TOC will prosecute under Byelaw 18(1), which is strict liability and requires not intent to avoid payment. Her only defence would be if there were no facilities available at her origin station. It might be worth checking whether the facilities were available if it was a smaller station. What offence are they intending to prosecute using, assuming they've made contact already?

Of course, it may not come to this and the TOC might be accommodating and be prepared for the matter to be dropped, in return for their reasonable admin costs to be met. Assuming they've already contacted her, she might prefer to offer to pay their costs if they haven't indicated this.

The punishment upon conviction of a Byelaw offence can be up to £1,000 fine, plus costs, plus compensation (ticket price in most cases). Realistically though it'll be a £200 fine (half the average week's salary), costs incurred by the TOC (about £100), compensation and victim surcharge (was £15 but I believe it's 10% of the fine now? so typically £20 for a byelaw).

If you plead guilty early you get a statutory discount of 1/3. Byelaws are non-recordable which means they wont show up on the Police computer. Although criminal, there should be no papertrail to suggest a criminal record.

For RRA 1889 offences the fine is a potential £1,000 and/or 3-months imprisonment for subsequent offences of the same nature. the norm though is on a par with a weeks average wage (£400) and all the rest is the same (surcharge of 10% though). This is PNC recordable and will lead to a criminal record. All fines are means tested.

geordie_taxi

Stigy wrote: »

Cheesypop, Obviously the best advice here would be to ignore Geordie Taxi.

so my advice to

-seek legal advice
-post on a jobsworth railway forum
-settle out of court

is incorrect?

stigy your opinions r of a biased railway employee and should be taken with a pinch of salt

Stigy

geordie_taxi wrote: »

so my advice to

-seek legal advice
-post on a jobsworth railway forum
-settle out of court

is incorrect?

stigy your opinions r of a biased railway employee and should be taken with a pinch of salt

The part about settling out of court was good, although posted whilst I was typing I believe so doesn't count . Also, as you seem to think they're extorsionists, I'll just point out that any settlement is just the equivalent of the costs they'd get in court anyway, and as such are just that, their incurred expenses. You seem to think they'll gain a profit of some sort?

Posting on a railway forum will gain the same advice as I've just given. I'm confused, surely you saying my advice should be taken as a pinch of salt as I'm a railway employee and thus am biased, means your comment about a rail forum is drivel? Seek legal advice? Erm, you can have that one as well, although only a two year old could pass that piece of common sense off as advice really.

My advice is accurate, tried and tested.

geordie_taxi

Stigy wrote: »

The part about settling out of court was good, although posted whilst I was typing I believe.

Posting on a railway forum will gain the same advice as I've just given. I'm confused, surely you saying my advice should be taken as a pinch of salt as I'm a railway employee and thus am biased, means your comment about a rail forum is drivel? Seek legal advice? Erm, you can have that one as well, although only a two year old could pass that piece of common sense off as advice really.

My advice is accurate, tried and tested.

i understand ur confusion. u need to learn to read ur posts before hitting the submit button as all ur edits make ur replys look so unproffesional. hence why i said post on the jobsworth forum as u get a more proffession answer there and not the ameuter answers u provide

Bob_the_Saver

geordie_taxi wrote: »

the problem is that train companies have some nasty tricks to extort monies out of unsuspecting passengers who have made a mistake. best bet get some proper advice from a lawyer or a jobsworth railway forum.

She didn't 'make a mistake' she just travelled without a ticket. Getting on the wrong train could be a mistake boarding a train knowing she didn't have a ticket was a deliberate act.
If it was THAT important she should have set off MUCH earlier to allow for things like traffic jams and queues, neither of which are exactly rare.

Stigy

geordie_taxi wrote: »

i understand ur confusion. u need to learn to read ur posts before hitting the submit button as all ur edits make ur replys look so unproffesional. hence why i said post on the jobsworth forum as u get a more proffession answer there and not the ameuter answers u provide

lol, says he who can't string a sentence together. Anyway, let's not feed the trolls.