Court summons for south eastern trains

[Jervass]

Back in September I took a journey from Barnehurst to Dartford on south eastern trains,I touched in with my oyster.when I got off at dartford there was no Oyster card reader!i was informed by ticket staff that dartford is outside of oyster region & I had to pay a £20 fine.i had no money so was unable to pay it.i was then interviewed by a ticket enforcement officer.i received a letter in the post approx 2 months ago from south eastern asking for my version of the events,I said that I was interviewed by one of your officers at the time for almost an hour!So I replied with a brief over view of the event!
Today I received a court summons for a breech of railway bylaw 18!

What can I do?
Should I go not guilty?
Can I settle out of court ?
Will I get I criminal record if found guilty?


Any advice would be much appreciated

 

[ainsworth74]

They are prosecuting you using Railway Byelaw 18 which states:

18. Ticketless travel in non-compulsory ticket areas

(1) In any area not designated as a compulsory ticket area, no person shall enter any train for the purpose of travelling on the railway unless he has with him a valid ticket entitling him to travel.

(2) A person shall hand over his ticket for inspection and verification of validity when asked to do so by an authorised person.

(3) No person shall be in breach of Byelaw 18(1) or 18(2) if:

(i) there were no facilities in working order for the issue or
validation of any ticket at the time when, and the station where, he began his journey; or

(ii) there was a notice at the station where he began his journey permitting journeys to be started without a valid ticket; or

(iii) an authorised person gave him permission to travel without a valid ticket.

Whilst this is clearly a serious matter, to answer one of your questions, it should not result in a criminal record. The penalty for this kind of offence is a fine of up to £1000. I would also advise that pleading not guilty is probably pointless as by the letter of what I've posted above you are, in fact, guilty. This is a strict liability matter meaning that if you can't present a valid ticket and none of the above exceptions apply then you're guilty.

An out of court settlement is often possible (but not guaranteed). I would suggest that you try writing to South Eastern's prosecutions department stating that you made a mistake and realise now that you should't have done what you did and will never do such a thing again and that you would like to pay the fare outstanding and any costs that South Eastern have faced in this matter.

 

[bb21]

Why would you plead not guilty? You were clearly unable to present a valid ticket when requested so if you were thinking of doing that, don't.

Basically you have two options: try for an out-of-court settlement, or go to the magistrates and plead guilty. Going to court and pleading not guilty would be stupid so not really an option for you.

An out-of-court settlement, if accepted by South Eastern, would mean no court appearance, however there is every possibility that such a settlement could cost more than the fine a court imposes.

It really is down to whether you fancy a trip to the local magistrates. Have you been in trouble for such offences before?

 

[Jervass]

Yeah I was thinking going not guilty is pointless,annoying thing was I could have bought a paper ticket but decided to top up oyster instead ,all thîs aggro for £2.50,which I had every intention of paying for but didn't know dartford wasn't covered by oyster !
FYI

I've never previously been in any sort of trouble with fare evasion before!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
By the way any idea on what sort of fine I'm looking at?

 

[BrownE]

Yeah I was thinking going not guilty is pointless,annoying thing was I could have bought a paper ticket but decided to top up oyster instead ,all thîs aggro for £2.50,which I had every intention of paying for but didn't know dartford wasn't covered by oyster !
FYI

I've never previously been in any sort of trouble with fare evasion before!
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
By the way any idea on what sort of fine I'm looking at?

It depends on a number of factors, the maximum fine for the offence is £1000. Generally it's based on your weekly wage, whether you pleaded guilty at the earliest opportunity etc.

The largest fine I've seen for a Byelaw 18 prosecution (first offence) is £350 + ticket cost (£0.50?) + victim surcharge £15

 

[Jervass]

Okay

So I intend to write to the revenue & prosecution officer who ordered the summons & grovel ,stating that as much as it wasn't intended fare invasion I am still in breech of bylaw 18. & apologise for the oversight.

On the summons it says that they requesting compensation(£2.50) & prosecution costs(£125)

So on the letter u write should I word it to pay the actual amounts for should I say the price of you journey plus any Admin costs?

Finally
The summons date is 17/01/13 & with Xmas coming up & offices being closed etc. should I wait until I here back from south eastern trains before sending the summons response to the court?
How late can I leave it before sending back the summons?
Can I actually go to south eastern trains office in London bridge & give them the letter by hand ?

Thanks

 

[bb21]

If you intend to settle out of court, I would suggest getting in touch with South Eastern asap, as your summons date is pretty soon. £127.50 is obviously the minimum you should offer, however I would be inclined to go higher than that to make it a more attractive offer to them. Unfortunately time is not on your side.

I wouldn't go and give them the letter in person, as you cannot always be sure that it reaches the correct person without delay. If you want to get this done sooner rather than later, send your letter using Special Delivery. The £6 or so in postage is nothing in the grand scheme of things.

 

[Stigy]

You can offer to settle out of court up to and including the day of the hearing. They don't have to accept though, and can proceed with court. Obviously the sooner you offer, the better.

 

[34D]

The summons date is 17/01/13 & with Xmas coming up & offices being closed etc. should I wait until I here back from south eastern trains before sending the summons response to the court?

No. Make sure you respond to the court within the relevant timeframe given.