Dear Fellow Forum Members,
A friend of mine has ended up in a real legal pickle because of the callous actions of a fare dodger in Cambridgeshire who gave my friends name and address when he was caught travelling between Cambridge and Broxbourne on a Greater Anglia train service without a ticket.
My friend is a UK citizen, but a permanent resident in South Africa, where he was working at a large brewery in Johannesburg on the day the offence was committed.
The problem is that the address that was given by the fare dodger was a self catering holiday home address in Orkney owned by my friend's parents, who are also permanently resident in South Africa. Post for family members does sometimes end up at the Orkney address, because it is the registered address of their business. I believe it is highly probable that a guest at the self catering establishment was able to make a note of my friend's name and the self catering address, and use it to his advantage to avoid the fare dodging situation by making my friend a victim of identity theft.
To make this matter much worse, all paperwork relating the fare dodging was, of course, sent to the self catering address in Orkney. It was eventually forwarded to him in South Africa months and months later, by which time Greater Anglia had issued him with a penalty fare, prosecuted him for non payment of the penalty fare, and the courts have now sent the police to the self catering property in Orkney to arrest him! His was of course not there, because he is permanently resident in South Africa!
In spite of trying to reason with the court, being aboard when the offence was committed does not appear make him innocent. On the contrary, he is now a wanted man and when he reenters this country, he is almost certain to be arrested for an offence that he has NOT committed!! The wheels of justice have simply run straight over the top of him, and it seems very difficult for him extricate himself from this mess and clear his good name.
In summary, as far as the courts are concerned, he has evaded court proceedings, been found guilty of failure to pay a penalty fare in absentia, he has acquired a criminal record, and there is warrant out for his arrest.
I would be really grateful for any advice that I can give him and his parents who are frantic with worry about this matter.
A friend of mine has ended up in a real legal pickle because of the callous actions of a fare dodger in Cambridgeshire who gave my friends name and address when he was caught travelling between Cambridge and Broxbourne on a Greater Anglia train service without a ticket.
My friend is a UK citizen, but a permanent resident in South Africa, where he was working at a large brewery in Johannesburg on the day the offence was committed.
The problem is that the address that was given by the fare dodger was a self catering holiday home address in Orkney owned by my friend's parents, who are also permanently resident in South Africa. Post for family members does sometimes end up at the Orkney address, because it is the registered address of their business. I believe it is highly probable that a guest at the self catering establishment was able to make a note of my friend's name and the self catering address, and use it to his advantage to avoid the fare dodging situation by making my friend a victim of identity theft.
To make this matter much worse, all paperwork relating the fare dodging was, of course, sent to the self catering address in Orkney. It was eventually forwarded to him in South Africa months and months later, by which time Greater Anglia had issued him with a penalty fare, prosecuted him for non payment of the penalty fare, and the courts have now sent the police to the self catering property in Orkney to arrest him! His was of course not there, because he is permanently resident in South Africa!
In spite of trying to reason with the court, being aboard when the offence was committed does not appear make him innocent. On the contrary, he is now a wanted man and when he reenters this country, he is almost certain to be arrested for an offence that he has NOT committed!! The wheels of justice have simply run straight over the top of him, and it seems very difficult for him extricate himself from this mess and clear his good name.
In summary, as far as the courts are concerned, he has evaded court proceedings, been found guilty of failure to pay a penalty fare in absentia, he has acquired a criminal record, and there is warrant out for his arrest.
I would be really grateful for any advice that I can give him and his parents who are frantic with worry about this matter.