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Southeastern, Someone gave my information

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bf3ftw

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Hi so i hardly ever use trains, but got two letters today from south-eastern and someone has given my name and an old address of mine when they haven't been able to produce a ticket, they are trying to prosecute me for £20 and obviously im not going to pay and intend to ring them up first thing tomorrow and sort this, but in there letter they say the person was interviewed by a member of staff and im sure there will be CCTV, so what i was wondering is if anyone knows a way i could work with south eastern to identify the person because if it is who i think it is they going to continue giving my details and wasting both mine and south eastern's time.

thanks in advance and im sorry for the wording in a rush.
 
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najaB

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thanks in advance and im sorry for the wording in a rush.
Hi and welcome. First off, it is up to Southeastern to prove it was you, not for you to prove that it was not. So reply to them, letting them know that they have the wrong person.

Secondly, it is very unlikely that CCTV is still available as it is normally kept for 30 days or less - 7 or 14 days is typical.
 

bf3ftw

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Hi and welcome. First off, it is up to Southeastern to prove it was you, not for you to prove that it was not. So reply to them, letting them know that they have the wrong person.

Secondly, it is very unlikely that CCTV is still available as it is normally kept for 30 days or less - 7 or 14 days is typical.

Im sorry i forgot to mention that the letter states this occurred on the 6th of june at 7:31 am so if they where willing to let me see some still images of the cctv or something i would be happy to see if could identify the real offender.
 

furlong

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Even if they don't have a picture, they may have a written description of the person concerned, as sadly it's not unknown for people to provide false details.
 

Elecman

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Im sorry i forgot to mention that the letter states this occurred on the 6th of june at 7:31 am so if they where willing to let me see some still images of the cctv or something i would be happy to see if could identify the real offender.

I can't imagine it's 7 th June this year if they gave an old address for you for them to have got your correct address?
 

bf3ftw

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I can't imagine it's 7 th June this year if they gave an old address for you for them to have got your correct address?

Because they gave my mums address whereas I moved out 7 months ago but the letter states the offense was 6th of June 2016 at 7:31
 

TRAX

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True Elecman, and what are the odds of this happening as a coïncidence ?
 

rdwarr

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Make sure you check that it's the correct number before you ring. There is a chance that the letter could be completely bogus.
But, assuming it's genuine, you have nothing to worry about - people often give false details.
 

bf3ftw

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Actually I tried calling the number multiple times today and there is no answer with I find out of place for a prosecution service.
 

bf3ftw

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Hello, So I posted on here a few months ago in regards to somebody giving my name and old address, when they failed to produce a ticket for southeastern.

They sent me 2 warning letters, one detailing the offence and one that was offering me a chance to give them more information, with advice from this forum and the southeastern customer services (by the way i had to find this number myself as the number the put on the letter just rings and rings) i filled out the letter stating that it was not me that travelled and my current correct address so they could contact me further if need be

A few weeks later i get informed that the same set of letters arrived at my old address, it was at this point I decided to ignore all further contact with southeastern as it was clear they hadn't bothered to read my reply, again a few weeks later a single justice procedure notice has turned up and my wrong address stating I have 21 days to plead guilty or not guilty and if I don't reply they will continue in my absence.

If I wasn't lucky enough to have someone move into my old address to forward my mail, I could have been trailed and convicted for crime I never committed.

any advice comments?
 
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cuccir

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OK, well it was a bad move to continue to ignore this. The fact is that while you've done nothing wrong, you can't just wish these things away.

I suggest you then get back in touch with Southeastern's Prosecution Team immediately, probably by both phone and by letter. You need to reiterate that it wasn't you travelling and that you intend to plead not guilty.

It would be wise at this stage to try and collect any evidence to support your claim that it wasn't you. Can you recall what you were doing on the day in question? Can you find anyone to support that? Having them to hand ready to testify to this should be useful.

With regards to the single justice procedure notice: I AM NOT A LAWYER but I understand that in responding to a SJPN - which you should do before the date indicated - you can indicate that you wish your case to be dealt with in a Magistrates Court rather than via a SJPN. Intuitively I'd suggest that if you're not guilty, that this might be a useful approach, as it is more likely to slow the process down, get Southern to actually look at it, and realize it wasn't you. Of course, whatever you chose to do, you should reply with a plea of Not Guilty before the date indicated.

It may be useful at this stage to see if you can consult with a lawyer - I believe that a lot of firms offer a free consultation. However I would be tempted to try one more round of phone calls/letter writing before moving to this stage.
 

Antman

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OK, well it was a bad move to continue to ignore this. The fact is that while you've done nothing wrong, you can't just wish these things away.

I suggest you then get back in touch with Southeastern's Prosecution Team immediately, probably by both phone and by letter. You need to reiterate that it wasn't you travelling and that you intend to plead not guilty.

It would be wise at this stage to try and collect any evidence to support your claim that it wasn't you. Can you recall what you were doing on the day in question? Can you find anyone to support that? Having them to hand ready to testify to this should be useful.

With regards to the single justice procedure notice: I AM NOT A LAWYER but I understand that in responding to a SJPN - which you should do before the date indicated - you can indicate that you wish your case to be dealt with in a Magistrates Court rather than via a SJPN. Intuitively I'd suggest that if you're not guilty, that this might be a useful approach, as it is more likely to slow the process down, get Southern to actually look at it, and realize it wasn't you. Of course, whatever you chose to do, you should reply with a plea of Not Guilty before the date indicated.

It may be useful at this stage to see if you can consult with a lawyer - I believe that a lot of firms offer a free consultation. However I would be tempted to try one more round of phone calls/letter writing before moving to this stage.

Whilst I agree in principal that it wasn't a good idea to ignore this surely the onus shouldn't be on the OP to do something or it lands up in court? He/she may not have received any letters or be away on holiday etc etc?
 

DaveNewcastle

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It seems to me that your earlier reply (which explained that it was not you that had travelled on that day) has not been linked to the prosecution file against you.

I urge you to reply again, but this time you are going to have to do a bit more work to avoid a prosecution. . . .

First, reply again to the Company, enclosing a copy of their letter to you, and a copy of your earlier letter, and clearly repeating that it was not you, and that any attempt to pursue you in the Court will be defended.

Because there are now three parties involved in this (you, the Company and the Court) all correspondence should be copied to all parties. So, secondly, reply to the Court's SJP notice indicating that you will plea 'not guilty', and include a copy of your letter to the Company (plus the copies you enclose with it).

If you don't do all of the above, there is a high probability tht this will drag on for longer than it need do, or that you will be sentenced under the SJP by default.

I also urge you to contact the Company's prosecutions team by phone again, to make sure that they understand that your response to their investigation is that it was not you who travelled, and that they should link your reply which explained that, to the file they have against you. You should avoid explaining whatever evidence you have of what you were doing that day which demonstrates that it wasn't you, but do let them know that if they wanted to proceed with a prosecution, then you would put them to proof (to demonstrate beyond all reasonable doubt that it was you that travelled - it would be at that stage, if it gets that far, that you would be able to introduce your evidence of where you were at that time).
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---

bf3ftw, if you don't put in the time to do as I've suggested, and instead, if you follow this line of reasoning, then you will probably find yourself in Court quite swiftly:-
Whilst I agree in principal that it wasn't a good idea to ignore this surely the onus shouldn't be on the OP to do something or it lands up in court?
The SJP is a default system, set up to deal swiftly with offenders who do not 'do something' in reponse and/or who do not present a defence. If you adopt Antman's approach then you will find it hard to avoid it 'landing up in court'. It's already well on the way to being dealt with by a Court!
 
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MikeWh

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Can everyone please keep posts on topic and relevant to the OP. I can find almost nothing of relevance in any of the last ten posts, which I'm about to hide from view.
 
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