Thank you no already checked & I didn’t pay debit card for 1st ticket. We have no problems with post whatsoever and I gave all correct details in at the time.
There's something very odd about this. The offence is alleged to have been committed on 17 November 2018. This means that the last possible date on which Merseyrail could have laid the "information" (summons) before the Court would be 18 May 2019, as there is a strict time limit of 6 months from the day after the offence for summons for "summary only" offences such as this (i.e. offences that only go as far as the Magistrates' Court). The main summons itself doesn't appear to have any date of issue on it, and indeed the date of the inspector's witness statement is 6 June 2019.
What I am alluding to is that it's possible that the summons has been issued "out of time" - i.e. too late, and that Merseyrail haven't realised this. It would be an extremely basic error to make but I suppose it could happen. It is important that you make enquiries with the Court in order to determine, as soon as possible, the date the information was laid. If this was more than 6 months after the date of the offence then the Court
"shall not try [the] information" (section 127(1) of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980).
Furthermore, they seem to be prosecuting an offence which you have self-evidently not committed. They are prosecuting you under
Section 5(1) of the Regulation of Railways Act 1889. This is, in full:
(1) Every passenger by a railway shall, on request by an officer or servant of a railway company, either produce, and if so requested deliver up, a ticket showing that his fare is paid, or pay his fare from the place whence he started, or give the officer or servant his name and address; and in case of default shall be liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 2 on the standard scale.
In other words, it's an offence to commit the so-called "three fails" - fail to produce a ticket, fail to pay your fare, and fail to give your name and address. Merseyrail have, in their summons, rather conveniently left out the third alternative out of those three: giving your name and address. They don't allege anywhere that you have failed to give your name and address and indeed they would struggle to get your name and address if you had refused to give it.
Accordingly, because you gave your name and address, you didn't commit an offence under this section. There are other sections dedicated to actual fare evasion (rather than non-cooperation) if that is what they want to prosecute. Furthermore, they can't even say you refused to pay your fare, because that's directly contradicted by the rather confused and garbled witness statement the officer has made, which states that you bought a ticket and states nothing of you refusing to pay a fare (just refusing a voluntary
interview).
Overall, it appears as if Merseyrail have an extremely shaky case on multiple grounds. I would encourage you to contact the Court as soon as possible to find out the most important thing of all - namely the date the information was laid before the Court. As the Court doesn't open until Monday, in the mean time I would encourage you to find a local criminal defence solicitor (e.g. through the
Law Society's website) and to try to book an initial consultation as soon as possible too. Initial consultations are usually free or low-cost and you will usually be able to obtain a reasonable idea of what the best way forward is.