Fines and ccj

Kennyhickman

Hi, I've been sent a letter by the courts for an outstanding train ticket fine. They have said I've failed to pay the fine or respond to any letters so now I must either plead guilty or not guilty by the courts which I'm guessing is a Ccj. The problem is this court letter plus the earlier letters all have the wrong address on them. They've been sent to (1) while my mums is (1a) the fella across the road gave us all the letters at once yesterday, not sure where to go from here or what to do now? 

eskbanker

Get in touch with the court asap.  What stage has the case reached, i.e. what does the most recent letter say?

Kennyhickman

eskbanker said:

Get in touch with the court asap.  What stage has the case reached, i.e. what does the most recent letter say?

Most recent is 28th April asking me do I plead guilty or not 

fatbelly

Kennyhickman said:

Hi, I've been sent a letter by the courts for an outstanding train ticket fine. They have said I've failed to pay the fine or respond to any letters so now I must either plead guilty or not guilty by the courts which I'm guessing is a Ccj. The problem is this court letter plus the earlier letters all have the wrong address on them. They've been sent to (1) while my mums is (1a) the fella across the road gave us all the letters at once yesterday, not sure where to go from here or what to do now? 

This is a criminal matter in the Magistrates Court, not a ccj.

I don't know if FTLA might help under non-motoring legal advice

https://www.ftla.uk/index.php

eskbanker

Kennyhickman said:

eskbanker said:

Get in touch with the court asap.  What stage has the case reached, i.e. what does the most recent letter say?

Most recent is 28th April asking me do I plead guilty or not 

And if you'd received all the letters at the time they were sent, what would you have done, i.e. do you accept or deny the allegation?  How do you believe the railway company obtained your address?

https://www.railforums.co.uk/forums/disputes-prosecutions.152/ is a good forum for advice on how to deal with rail ticket disputes....

Kennyhickman

Yeah I would of paid the fine on the first letter as I gave them my address but they missed the 'A' out after the 1

eskbanker

Kennyhickman said:

Yeah I would of paid the fine on the first letter as I gave them my address but they missed the 'A' out after the 1

If you're sure you supplied the correct address to the railway company, who then messed it up, then you might be able to appeal to them, but if it's progressed as far as the court stage it may be too late for that - how much time do you have before any deadline specified on the letter?

Kennyhickman

7 days left I believe. Yeah I defiantly did as they didn't even ask for ID but I gave them my name and address when I could of just made it up. Just not sure who I contact if it's the court or something else. 

eskbanker

Kennyhickman said:

7 days left I believe. Yeah I defiantly did as they didn't even ask for ID but I gave them my name and address when I could of just made it up. Just not sure who I contact if it's the court or something else. 

I'm not familiar enough with the process to advise confidently, but would suggest that there's no harm in contacting the court to ask if there's anything you can do to defer the case in the circumstances of only just finding out about it by virtue of the claimant having used the wrong address throughout the process.

However, if you'd ultimately be pleading guilty then you're presumably really wanting to convince the railway company to keep it out of court instead, which would obviously need to be done as a matter of urgency, probably by phone rather than in writing.  I'd strongly recommend posting on the railway forum linked earlier, including redacted copies of the letters, as the best course of action will often depend on which company it is (some are more reasonable than others) and exactly which offence you're being charged with (again some are worse than others), and the regular posters on that board are very well-informed on such matters.

Kennyhickman

I'll try all of this thank you