cantabrigian
Member
- Joined
- 3 Apr 2016
- Messages
- 23
Can anyone recommend a solicitor to deal with a case of alleged fare evasion, preferably one based in Cambridge (but more important to have someone suitably qualified than someone right on the spot)? It is not yet clear to me whether I need one or not but it would be good to have some ideas in case I do, as I am guessing I may have to move quickly when the time comes.
There is a lot I could say about the facts but in brief, I have a problem with a badly completed carnet ticket (I am learning that they are not very easy to write on and it appears from other threads on this board that I am not alone in this?) that gave the ticket inspector and the other person (who I think is called an RPI, revenue protection inspector?) with him the impression that it might have been re-used. I know it wasn't re-used and I answered all the questions I was asked truthfully so in principle perhaps I should have nothing to fear but what I have been reading suggests that it may not be as simple as that. At the moment, I am waiting for the TOC to write to me to tell me what it proposes to do next.
Meantime, can anyone help me with the following?
- When I should expect to hear from them (I have been waiting nearly two weeks now but Easter has been in the way meantime)?
- What are the TOC's options now? I think it can just accept what I said and take things no further (but even though this the first time) I'm not optimistic it will because although I know I didn't re-use the ticket, even if they believe me in the end they may need more information before they see my point. And I don't think they will ask me for a penalty fare because it is presumably not their case that I didn't have a ticket, rather that I had one but was trying to rip them off with it. But at this point I get confused about railway bylaws [17 and 20?] and the 1889 Act - are there two levels of possible action against me with differing consequences in terms of whether they lead to a criminal record and different severities of punishment in terms of fines and (although this seems unlikely?) jail sentences etc?
- Supposing they do go forward with whatever sort of action against me, how specific will their allegation be? Do they have to say "we believe you previously used this ticket on day X" or just "we believe you used it more than once"? I ask because the tickets were printed three days before all of this took place and although I can provide evidence as to what I was doing on all of the days in between (specifically - I was basically at home apart from short trips out that didn't involve getting on any trains), I think they think I used it on a specific prior day (one day before I actually did) and it would be less work to provide evidence just for that day.
- I see comments here about settlement out of court (although there does not seem to be consensus on how likely that is in a case like this); would that be offered up front by the TOC or would it have to be requested by me and if so when, and can an offer to settle be taken as any kind of admission of guilt? Distinct from some other users here, I haven't "done anything wrong" (see below) so apologising (other than for consuming everyone's time) doesn't help me much and any kind of admission is not very attractive in case push really comes to shove and I have to defend myself in court in the end (for professional reasons, even if I can afford the fine I can't accept a criminal record, so no real choice but to fight even to the level of an appeal).
- I know I haven't "done anything wrong" in the sense that I bought a ticket for a journey and then I took that journey, in addition to which my carnet did clearly include the correct date (the problem being that it's messy, ie it has the correct date but - they seem to think - other information too) but can I still have committed an offence by making a mistake and if so does that carry the same penalty or a lesser one?
- How quickly do I have to react when the TOC does contact me and do I have to react in full including all the evidence I can bring to bear or is there some more gradual dialogue? This is the sort of issue that could probably be sorted out by correspondence but if there is a strict, formal process I fear it will get quite nasty quite fast.
- Does the TOC have to prove that I re-used the ticket or do I have to prove I didn't, and what standards of proof apply? I can demonstrate fairly effectively that it is unlikely (even highly unlikely) I re-used the ticket because I can show via various electronic records that, basically, I did not go far from my home on the relevant days but of course proving a negative is never easy. I can paint a pretty good picture but not so good that no alternative conspiracy theory could ever be put forward by someone sufficiently paranoid ...
- How seriously would witness evidence be taken? My family could for example declare "he was at home all weekend, didn't go anywhere" and for the work days I could get testimony from colleagues (and of course give a statement myself) but I'm conscious that these are all people connected to me so I don't know what attitude is taken to that.
I'm also conscious that some or all of these may be dumb questions (fortunately I don't have any previous experience of this) so apologies if that is the case, but any comments anyone can supply would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Cantabrigian
There is a lot I could say about the facts but in brief, I have a problem with a badly completed carnet ticket (I am learning that they are not very easy to write on and it appears from other threads on this board that I am not alone in this?) that gave the ticket inspector and the other person (who I think is called an RPI, revenue protection inspector?) with him the impression that it might have been re-used. I know it wasn't re-used and I answered all the questions I was asked truthfully so in principle perhaps I should have nothing to fear but what I have been reading suggests that it may not be as simple as that. At the moment, I am waiting for the TOC to write to me to tell me what it proposes to do next.
Meantime, can anyone help me with the following?
- When I should expect to hear from them (I have been waiting nearly two weeks now but Easter has been in the way meantime)?
- What are the TOC's options now? I think it can just accept what I said and take things no further (but even though this the first time) I'm not optimistic it will because although I know I didn't re-use the ticket, even if they believe me in the end they may need more information before they see my point. And I don't think they will ask me for a penalty fare because it is presumably not their case that I didn't have a ticket, rather that I had one but was trying to rip them off with it. But at this point I get confused about railway bylaws [17 and 20?] and the 1889 Act - are there two levels of possible action against me with differing consequences in terms of whether they lead to a criminal record and different severities of punishment in terms of fines and (although this seems unlikely?) jail sentences etc?
- Supposing they do go forward with whatever sort of action against me, how specific will their allegation be? Do they have to say "we believe you previously used this ticket on day X" or just "we believe you used it more than once"? I ask because the tickets were printed three days before all of this took place and although I can provide evidence as to what I was doing on all of the days in between (specifically - I was basically at home apart from short trips out that didn't involve getting on any trains), I think they think I used it on a specific prior day (one day before I actually did) and it would be less work to provide evidence just for that day.
- I see comments here about settlement out of court (although there does not seem to be consensus on how likely that is in a case like this); would that be offered up front by the TOC or would it have to be requested by me and if so when, and can an offer to settle be taken as any kind of admission of guilt? Distinct from some other users here, I haven't "done anything wrong" (see below) so apologising (other than for consuming everyone's time) doesn't help me much and any kind of admission is not very attractive in case push really comes to shove and I have to defend myself in court in the end (for professional reasons, even if I can afford the fine I can't accept a criminal record, so no real choice but to fight even to the level of an appeal).
- I know I haven't "done anything wrong" in the sense that I bought a ticket for a journey and then I took that journey, in addition to which my carnet did clearly include the correct date (the problem being that it's messy, ie it has the correct date but - they seem to think - other information too) but can I still have committed an offence by making a mistake and if so does that carry the same penalty or a lesser one?
- How quickly do I have to react when the TOC does contact me and do I have to react in full including all the evidence I can bring to bear or is there some more gradual dialogue? This is the sort of issue that could probably be sorted out by correspondence but if there is a strict, formal process I fear it will get quite nasty quite fast.
- Does the TOC have to prove that I re-used the ticket or do I have to prove I didn't, and what standards of proof apply? I can demonstrate fairly effectively that it is unlikely (even highly unlikely) I re-used the ticket because I can show via various electronic records that, basically, I did not go far from my home on the relevant days but of course proving a negative is never easy. I can paint a pretty good picture but not so good that no alternative conspiracy theory could ever be put forward by someone sufficiently paranoid ...
- How seriously would witness evidence be taken? My family could for example declare "he was at home all weekend, didn't go anywhere" and for the work days I could get testimony from colleagues (and of course give a statement myself) but I'm conscious that these are all people connected to me so I don't know what attitude is taken to that.
I'm also conscious that some or all of these may be dumb questions (fortunately I don't have any previous experience of this) so apologies if that is the case, but any comments anyone can supply would be appreciated.
Many thanks
Cantabrigian