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

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Dan20201

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Hi,

I have no relecollection of the offence as it was 15years ago and when I was young dumb and stupid. I have only now learnt that I am due to appear in court in december 2020 for using a doctored ticket (fraud).

Does anybody have any advice on what I should do?? Completely bricking it here :(
 
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WesternLancer

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Hi,

I have no relecollection of the offence as it was 15years ago and when I was young dumb and stupid. I have only now learnt that I am due to appear in court in december 2020 for using a doctored ticket (fraud).

Does anybody have any advice on what I should do?? Completely bricking it here :(
do you have access to any free or cheap legal advice - eg from a union that you belong to, or via your house insurance maybe?

You may be able to get a short free legal advice session from a local solicitor - at least they would tell you if there was a statute of limitations.

Does it clearly state the offence is from 2005? I mean no chance that someone has used your name or ID fraudulently recently - and yet you are assuming it connects to a fare evasion issue you know you committed 15 years ago?

Posts on this thread usually suggest the railway has 6 months to take action, but I don't know if that is a legal limit cast in stone (or law).
EDIT - given post below it would seem not.
 
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SargeNpton

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15 years does seem like an exceedingly long time to take something like this to court - unless there were other factors involved that aggravated the original offence.

Who is taking you to court? A train operating company? The Crown Prosecution Service?
 

Haywain

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Have you actually received a summons to appear in court? If so, does it specify that the alleged offence occurred in 2005? There is no such thing as a statute of limitations in English law and where a time limit exists it only applies to summary offences. Fraud is not a summary offence, so has no time limit.
 

Dan20201

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15 years does seem like an exceedingly long time to take something like this to court - unless there were other factors involved that aggravated the original offence.

Who is taking you to court? A train operating company? The Crown Prosecution Service?
London transport - now TFL. I had an unpaid parking ticket with them this year and it seems somebody has dug this up to make matters worse. Very unfortunate.
 

30907

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Could you post a redacted (no personal details) image of the letter, which would give us a little more detail In this unusual case?
 

matt_world2004

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Are you sure you haven't been prosecuted in absentia and that this has come up while the collections agency/TfL are chasing payment for the parking ticket

Is the parking ticket from TfL?

Do you remember being revenue checked 15 years ago
 

30907

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Not for fraud offences. If the offence alleged was common-or-garden fare evasion it would be 6 months.
The OP is being prosecuted by TfL, I don't think they have power to prosecute for fraud?
 

yorkie

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Hi,

I have no relecollection of the offence as it was 15years ago and when I was young dumb and stupid. I have only now learnt that I am due to appear in court in december 2020 for using a doctored ticket (fraud).

Does anybody have any advice on what I should do?? Completely bricking it here :(
If it was me I'd get in touch with these people:


I have no connection with Penman Sedgwick whatsoever and, at the time of writing this, I have not spoken to them and have no personal experience with them

However I am aware of forum members who said they had an excellent experience with this company; an example is this incident with the now defunct First Capital Connect:

I cannot promise success but if anyone can get you out of this, I expect they can.
 

najaB

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I have only now learnt that I am due to appear in court in december 2020 for using a doctored ticket (fraud).
What, exactly, have you been charged with? It seems a bit odd that the first you have heard of this is a summons.
 

30907

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Prosecution under a statute that wasn't in force when the offence allegedly took place? :s
So long as there was a corresponding offence on the statute book in 2005, I believe so.
Sorry, the 2006 Act is what TfL's own prosecution policy document refers to.
 
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DB

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Prosecution under a statute that wasn't in force when the offence allegedly took place? :s

Highly unlkely (legislation is rarely retrospective). However, they probably would be able to prosecute under whatever fraud legislation was in force at the time when the incident occurred (I don't know what the previous legislation was, but for something like fraud it will no doubt have existed).
 

island

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Highly unlkely (legislation is rarely retrospective). However, they probably would be able to prosecute under whatever fraud legislation was in force at the time when the incident occurred (I don't know what the previous legislation was, but for something like fraud it will no doubt have existed).
Probably obtaining services by deception contrary to section 1 of the Theft Act 1978.
 

island

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Was fraud not an offence in common law before the fraud act?
It was (and I think it still is; the Fraud Act doesn’t specifically abolish it) but as I mentioned above it would probably be more appropriate to prosecute for obtaining services by deception.

I wonder whether the OP will be back.
 

ukkid

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"Obtaining a pecuniary advantage by deception."

I miss hearing those words on TV shows like The Bill.
 

najaB

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It's against various human rights treaties that the UK is a signatory (and in some cases, wrote!) to make legislation retrospective in that way.
Ah, but this would only breach those treaties in a very specific and limited way.
 

Bensonby

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As people have said, you only have 6 months to prosecute summary offences: deception (now Fraud) is not a summary offence. However, it is still possible that there is a summary-only offence outstanding from 2005 as if the prosecutor laid a complaint within 6 months the matter could still be “live” though dormant: the court would have issued a first instance warrant that has been laying in file for 15 years.

As in any case, what is important is understand what, specifically, you have been charged with and getting proper legal advice is strongly advised.
 

DB

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As people have said, you only have 6 months to prosecute summary offences: deception (now Fraud) is not a summary offence. However, it is still possible that there is a summary-only offence outstanding from 2005 as if the prosecutor laid a complaint within 6 months the matter could still be “live” though dormant: the court would have issued a first instance warrant that has been laying in file for 15 years.

That would likely be thrown out as an abuse of process though, given the time that has elapsed. It would also indicate a fair level of incompetence in the judicial system if they'd not chased it up in a reasonable timeframe.
 

Bensonby

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That would likely be thrown out as an abuse of process though, given the time that has elapsed. It would also indicate a fair level of incompetence in the judicial system if they'd not chased it up in a reasonable timeframe.

Possibly/probably. It would depend on the precise facts though.
 

Mojo

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Usually in such cases prosecutions for fake or altered tickets are done under Regulation of Railways Act in any case.
 
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