Help!! Caught with FAKE TRAVELCARD in 2005..2020 summoned to court

[SteveM70]

That is true, but I also find it odd that courts will be sitting on the Sunday between Xmas and New Year's Day.

It’s actually a bit more than that - Sunday 27th this year is in between the Xmas day and Boxing Day bank holidays.

Maybe they’ve got an automated booking system on a spreadsheet cobbled together by an intern, and they’ve not blanked out that Sunday? I wouldn’t put it past them

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I think it’s time to be robust on this one. Realistically, the story we’ve been given (a 2005 offence brought to court in 2020, on the Sunday immediately after Christmas) is not believable. Someone is being wound up. It may be the OP by some ‘friends’ of theirs, in which case we’ve provided the OP with the tools they need (i.e. to check whether the ‘court’ information is reliable). Or it may be us by the OP (Which isn’t unheard of - there was another recent case) in which case there’s nothing more we can do to help.

The OP doesn’t seen to have been back since 12 October: I don’t know if that was before or after my post of that date but I did try to break it to them gently that if they were scamming us then we’d rumbled them. Maybe I was right?

 

[WesternLancer]

I think it’s time to be robust on this one. Realistically, the story we’ve been given (a 2005 offence brought to court in 2020, on the Sunday immediately after Christmas) is not believable. Someone is being wound up. It may be the OP by some ‘friends’ of theirs, in which case we’ve provided the OP with the tools they need (i.e. to check whether the ‘court’ information is reliable). Or it may be us by the OP (Which isn’t unheard of - there was another recent case) in which case there’s nothing more we can do to help.

The OP doesn’t seen to have been back since 12 October: I don’t know if that was before or after my post of that date but I did try to break it to them gently that if they were scamming us then we’d rumbled them. Maybe I was right?

This was my thinking too. Diplomatically, but well put, Fawkes

 

[Dan20201]

Sorry for my absence.

To confirm, this is 100% a legitimate case. I had to attend court for a drink driving offence last month (yes, i know this all seems very elaborate but true), and when I had called Highbury and Islington courts in the first instance, I was told by the agent that I had a case coming up. The details didn't sound right and asked them to double-check. They then did and said I had x2 cases. x1 that I was aware of, and x1 case for fare evasion from 2005. I was shocked.

My instinct is that this case has been idle for some time and was on the record but never actioned, or my recent case, triggered/flagged this on the system as a matter to be dealt with.

Since we last spoke, information has been very conflicting. My solicitor said that TfL have no case or record, but I have spoken with my solicitor today and they have said neither the court or TFL are prepared to give any information.

All of this is making me feel that my most recent case has opened pandora's box and has reactivated the old case. I'm not sure what to think but the Christmas date are suspect but were given to me by the courts. And it's true that the courts are operating on weekends due to the major backlog.

 

[MotCO]

Sorry for my absence.

To confirm, this is 100% a legitimate case. I had to attend court for a drink driving offence last month (yes, i know this all seems very elaborate but true), and when I had called Highbury and Islington courts in the first instance, I was told by the agent that I had a case coming up. The details didn't sound right and asked them to double-check. They then did and said I had x2 cases. x1 that I was aware of, and x1 case for fare evasion from 2005. I was shocked.

My instinct is that this case has been idle for some time and was on the record but never actioned, or my recent case, triggered/flagged this on the system as a matter to be dealt with.

Since we last spoke, information has been very conflicting. My solicitor said that TfL have no case or record, but I have spoken with my solicitor today and they have said neither the court or TFL are prepared to give any information.

All of this is making me feel that my most recent case has opened pandora's box and has reactivated the old case. I'm not sure what to think but the Christmas date are suspect but were given to me by the courts. And it's true that the courts are operating on weekends due to the major backlog.

How does this square with your post #46:

Hi all,

May solicitor responded

“The court got back to me today and informed me that it is not an active case against you. I have corresponded with TFL as well and they have no record of the matter. So at this time there is nothing we can do. If the matter does however become active let us know and we will assist you from there.”

very odd seeing as the court said there is a court date 27th December 2020. I’m not really sure what to think but that they may decide on this date that they may press charges?

If neither TfL nor the Courts are giving you any information, how can you prepare your defence?

 

[ukkid]

Sorry for my absence.

To confirm, this is 100% a legitimate case. I had to attend court for a drink driving offence last month (yes, i know this all seems very elaborate but true), and when I had called Highbury and Islington courts in the first instance, I was told by the agent that I had a case coming up. The details didn't sound right and asked them to double-check. They then did and said I had x2 cases. x1 that I was aware of, and x1 case for fare evasion from 2005. I was shocked.

1. Email the court, your solicitor and TFL jointly asking them to explain to you what is going on considering what you have been told previously by all three.
2. Ask the court to state any charges pending against you, the date of alleged offence, date of any hearings.
3. Point out to the court and TFL that your solicitor is representing you and they have no choice but to communicate with your solicitor, like they do in every other represented case.
4. Ask your solicitor why they haven't complained to the justices clerk or made a mention in court for the lack of communication with them and the lack of disclosure. Your solicitor should know the process and what to do next, better than anyone else. It's their job.
5. Pending charges before a court/ prosecutions are not hidden. That is publicly available information anyone should be able to obtain.

 

[Trackman]

To the OP (original poster): Is this at Highbury Corner magistrates on the Holloway road?

 

[Fawkes Cat]

I know this may sound a little heartless, but I don't think there's any more help we can give the OP. They're represented by a solicitor, who will be nearer to the facts than we are, and being close to the action will have a better grasp of what's going on than we will. And it will undoubtedly be irritating for the solicitor to find that an internet forum is trying to second-guess what advice they should give to their client.

If the OP wants to keep us in touch with the progress of this, it would be great to hear - but I fear that all we can usefully do is listen and not judge.

 

[GlitterUnicorn]

If it's been sitting there since 2005 my temptation would be to avoid being too curious about it and let it go. If the case has been sitting around for 15 years, I'd imagine if undisturbed it could be left lying there and hopefully no-one will feel the need to activate it. You could ask TFL about it, but if they've forgotten then they might remember, and decide to do something about it. Which probably wouldn't be in your interests.

But, it's from 15 years ago, when you were 15, it's both a long time ago and a crime committed while you were a minor. I guess that's probably in your favour.

 

[ukkid]

.

There are lots of nonsense and inefficiencies in the courts. But cases lying around on a courts system for years, being reteaactivated somehow, TFL not knowing,and solicitors being refused publicly available basic information and then seemingly accepting that...none of this adds up.

I've suggested next steps in the previous post, but it's your solicitor who should be sorting this out.

Fawkes Cat makes very good points. I'd also be pushing the solicitor to their job or find another solicitor

Also if you were 15 at the time, any conviction and sentence (if got that far,) would be based on you being a child not an adult

 

[WesternLancer]

If it's been sitting there since 2005 my temptation would be to avoid being too curious about it and let it go. If the case has been sitting around for 15 years, I'd imagine if undisturbed it could be left lying there and hopefully no-one will feel the need to activate it. You could ask TFL about it, but if they've forgotten then they might remember, and decide to do something about it. Which probably wouldn't be in your interests.

But, it's from 15 years ago, when you were 15, it's both a long time ago and a crime committed while you were a minor. I guess that's probably in your favour.

isn't the whole point that the case has been reactivated?

But @ukkid has set out some clear actions to take and these seem to be good advice for the OP to follow.

 

[Haywain]

I remain deeply sceptical about whether this is genuine, and the OPs 'clarification' has done nothing to change that.

 

[bb21]

As per Post 68, locked.