Court for not having a valid ticket

Cpu2007

My friend is in a situation and was hoping to know if there's a way out.

He was fined for not having a valid ticket, the reason he didn't have it is because he lost his weekly pass and didn't realise.

The issue is that he buys his tickets in cash and other than the fact there's no digital footprint to prove it,he didn't keep the receipt.

On the other hand, he kept all the weekly passes as he buys them every week, to prove that he buys these passes to go to work.

He refused to pay the fine and has court hearing on Monday now.

Do you think there's anything he can do about it?

thank you

wealdroam

Cpu2007 wrote: »

My friend is in a situation and was hoping to know if there's a way out.

He was fined for not having a valid ticket, the reason he didn't have it is because he lost his weekly pass and didn't realise.

The issue is that he buys his tickets in cash and other than the fact there's no digital footprint to prove it,he didn't keep the receipt.

On the other hand, he kept all the weekly passes as he buys them every week, to prove that he buys these passes to go to work.

He refused to pay the fine and has court hearing on Monday now.

Do you think there's anything he can do about it?

thank you

So when did this incident take place?

Only courts can issue a fine. Has [STRIKE]you[/STRIKE] your friend already been to court?

You could try asking on a rail uk forum, but you really have left it very late to be able to do anything.

s_b

Do you think there's anything he can do about it?

yes
tell him to take some clean jim jams with him
the good news is the maximum jail term is only 3 months

Hasbeen

Cpu2007 wrote: »

My friend is in a situation and was hoping to know if there's a way out.

He was fined for not having a valid ticket, the reason he didn't have it is because he lost his weekly pass and didn't realise.

The issue is that he buys his tickets in cash and other than the fact there's no digital footprint to prove it,he didn't keep the receipt.

On the other hand, he kept all the weekly passes as he buys them every week, to prove that he buys these passes to go to work.

He refused to pay the fine and has court hearing on Monday now.

Do you think there's anything he can do about it?

thank you

He was not fined he was issued with a penalty fare, for travelling without a ticket. Which he then refused to pay?? resulting in being taken to court.

As above poster try the rail forums for advice, but I would think that with costs added by railway company etc he is now going to be paying a lot more at hearing.

Only hope he does not get criminal record as well.

Cpu2007

You guys are right, he left it too late, I just came across this today and thought about writing in here in order to get some advice.

I told him the same thing about not having any proof of purchase and therefore he should have paid the fine.

His motives is that he pays for the pass every week and he is not trying to evade the fare as the number of his weekly passes show;

Yes it's a court matter now,he refused the pay the fine, the court hearing is on Monday if i'm not wrong.

Hasbeen

Proof of purchase etc, does not mean anything.
He has to actually show a valid ticket for journey being made.

He did not, so was issued with penalty fare, this does not indicate he was trying to evade fare, but is standard procedure for failing to produce a valid ticket. He should have paid as he was in the wrong.

Now it has reached court stage he can state his defence, but I would consider he will be fined with costs etc and a lesson learned?

My opinion only, if possible come back with outcome.

parking_question_chap

Its really kind that so many people on MSE are happy to post asking for advice on their friends behalf.

photome

parking_question_chap wrote: »

Its really kind that so many people on MSE are happy to post asking for advice on their friends behalf.

It is isnt it, there are lots of friends out there with no internet access dont you know

Stigy

Cpu2007 wrote: »

His motives is that he pays for the pass every week and he is not trying to evade the fare as the number of his weekly passes show;

Yes it's a court matter now,he refused the pay the fine, the court hearing is on Monday if i'm not wrong.

This is why he was given a Penalty Fare in the first place. If the staff concerned thought he deliberately intended to avid his fare, they'd have 'cut out the middle man' and reported him straight away, resulting in possible court hearing.

The reason it's dealt with in this way is because although your 'friend' had/has a ticket, by not showing it means he could have been lending it to anyone to use fraudulently. It's common sense really, even to a lay person, and I don't understand how members of the travelling public don't get how things work sometimes.

Some companies, as a gesture of goodwill, will refund any Penalty Fare imposed etc on receipt of proof that a person does possess a season ticket, but this is nothing more than a gesture in certain cases and isn't set in stone.

Assuming this is being prosecuted under Railway Byelaw 18(2), he really doesn't have a defence.

Marktheshark

He mights as well turn up go nor guilty and request a full disclosure of the prosecution bundle.
Often they throw the towel in if its going to drag out as they have to send a solicitor to court and it could go over 3-4 hearings as they often do not send the disclosure package on time.

ClaretHead

Your friend will be found guilty - travelling without a ticket is a "Strict liability" offence - it doesn't matter whether his intentions were good, or whether he had paid for and mislaid a ticket - all that is required is for the prosecutor to prove that they did not produce a ticket when asked for one. Even if he produced the ticket and receipts at court, he would still be found guilty as charged. The offence will not give him a criminal record (although it would show up on an enhanced CRB check).

The best hope of avoiding prosecution at this late stage would be to attend court, locate the prosecutor before the case is called, apologise for the inconvenience caused to the railway company (infuriating though this might be for him) and negotiate an out of court settlement - offer to pay the original single fare for the journey and a sum towards prosecution costs (around 100 sovs).