Help required - Single Justice Procedure Notice, case of Mistaken identity

[Nitcbitsy]

Hello All

I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) this afternoon through post that states that I have been charged with an offence committed on a Southeastern Service. The statement of facts as written on the notice is placed below

"On X day xy July 2022, [MY NAME] travelled from Penge East to Reading West. [MY NAME] was unable to produce the necessary documentation to validagte their ticket for the journey and was issued a Pentalty Fare Notice. Two reminder letters were sent but the Penalty Fare remains unpaid. [MY NAME] was informed that the matter would be reported if the Penalty Fare was not paid. [MY NAME] has either not responded to the matter or has been informed by the independent appeals service that any appeal made against the Penalty Fare Notice was unsuccessful"

The Notice also mentions that I was given a Penalty Fare Notice at 05:12PM at London Victoria.

The Issue and why I need help

This is a case of mistaken identify as I was home in West London on the said day (so not travelled the said route) and hence I never received the said Penalty Fare notice. 1. Infact I was walking my Dog in a park between 04:29PM till 05:16PM in a West London Park miles away from London Victoria. I also have proof of this as a fitness app on my phone tracks my walks and times which I have saved.
2. Secondly though my name and address on the SJPN are correct, the date of birth mentioned is incorrect. Which leaves me perplexed regarding how this Notice made its way to my address. This makes me believe that perpetrator gave false information to the Southeastern ticket collector. Surely these collectors have to verify the information given by means of ID before issuing notices ? This clearly was not the case.
3. Finally , the Notice mentions and as stated in the blue text above 'Two Reminder Letters' were sent out. However I never received any of these , otherwise I would have challenged this directly with Southeastern.

I am a bit confused how to proceed with fighting this case , so any advice would be greatly appreciated. It seems I would have to go to court since I would be pleading Not guilty and defend myself.
I have 20 days to respond with Not Guilty , though as a law abiding citizen I am worried if any permanent mark would be put on my record that could impact future background checks etc.

I would be seeking advice from the citizen advice bureau as well.

Thank you for being patient and reading this post.
Kind Regards

 

[Fawkes Cat]

Welcome to the forum.

Almost certainly, what has happened is that someone was fare dodging, and when they were caught they gave your name and address - but since they don’t know your birthday they made something up for that.

You’re not the first person that this has happened to, and you won’t be the last. So when you get in touch with the railway, they will know what questions to ask.

Unfortunately, because you didn’t get the railway’s earlier letters, you don’t have a phone number to call them on. So for the moment I suggest that you phone the court: it won’t be the first time they have had this problem either.

Hopefully someone will be along shortly who does have contact details for Southeastern: when you‘ve got that, give them a ring. They will probably ask you to provide photo proof of your identity (your passport or driving licence) - they’ll compare the photo to the description that the inspector took, and as they will be different then the railway will know that they shouldn’t be prosecuting you.

Don’t hang about in that now the SJPN has been issued you’re on a timetable - but don’t panic either!

 

[WesternLancer]

I would also write to Southeastern to explain the situation you have outlined before, and send the letter in the post with registered post. Mark it Cleary for the 'revenue enforcement section' or such like if a clearer clue to their name on the documents you have received.

I'm not convinced the customer services address in Leicestershire is the best place to be in touch with but in the absence of anywhere else listed on their website here for the team that deals with prosecutions, this might be the main option

Contact us | Southeastern

It's easy to contact Southeastern and we're here to help. You can get in touch online or by phone, textphone, email, post or Twitter.

www.southeasternrailway.co.uk

Southeastern Customer Services
PO Box 10422
Ashby-de-la-Zouch
LE65 9EL

You could also send a a copy of the same thing to this official address too perhaps.

Southeastern is the trading name of SE Trains Limited. Registered in England under company number 03266762. Registered office address: Second Floor, 4 More London Riverside, London SE1 2AU.

Have you been given a court date? You need to act fast on this of course as it will get more complicated to resolve if they don't get the message and act. But it won't be the first time this has happened.

There is also the risk that if someone is using your address you may be at risk of other types of identity theft, so you may want to take steps to prevent that (probably advice on line but I guess check bank and savings accounts, open all post carefully and do not ignore 'strange' letters etc, change passwords on on line stuff - but I suspect you will have thought of all this).

Good luck with sorting it and head back here if you need more advice.

 

[cuccir]

As Fawkes Cat has said, don't panic too much: this is relatively normal, and the parties involved will not be unfamiliar with the idea that a fare dodger has given someone else's details.

You need to immediately write back and plead not guilty to the SJPN. This will means that your case has to be heard in court, which then buys you the time to sort this with Southeastern.

That is then the next step: contacting Southeastern to explain that it was not you. Call them to get contact details but make sure that you also communicate in writing. Keep your letters factual and to the point: it was not you, the personal details are incorrect, you were elsewhere at the time and have evidence to support this claim (you do not need to share the evidence, but stating you have it will help). You may as Fawkes Cat recommends include a photo of yourself to support your claims.

All being well, Southeastern will then drop charges against you before the court date. Equally, and before that happens, it would be good to gather for yourself any evidence that you would need if this went to court: the details from the fitness app and ideally the names of any witnesses who could corroborate your whereabouts (you don't need, at this point, to gather witness statements but if you had the names of anyone then that would be good). I don't think you should need to engage a solicitor at this point; a court duty solicitor should be sufficient on the day of your trial if it were to get that far, but it is highly unlikely to do so.

 

[swt_passenger]

Surely these collectors have to verify the information given by means of ID before issuing notices ? This clearly was not the case.

I think the problem here is that because there is no requirement in this country to carry photo ID, revenue staff cannot then insist on it. They just ask for a name and address. If a fare evader gives an address which is subsequently checked to exist against a public database, and then the name given is matched with the electoral register, the TOC is entitled to assume that is correct until told otherwise. Preventing this problem happening would require compulsory carrying of official photo ID at all times, and that will never be accepted.

 

[Gloster]

As you did not receive either of the two reminder letters, do you live in a property where your post is not put directly through your door or into a box to which only you and you alone have access? Whether this would be an advantage, I do not know, but it might at least give you more information to work on.

 

[Dai Corner]

As you did not receive either of the two reminder letters, do you live in a property where your post is not put directly through your door or into a box to which only you and you alone have access? Whether this would be an advantage, I do not know, but it might at least give you more information to work on.

I was wondering why the OP didn't receive the two reminder letters but did get the SJPN. Could the former have been intercepted by somebody with access to his/her mail? Can someone who has received such a letter confirm whether they are identifiable as such without opening them?

 

[Sebastian O]

On a weird point of note - is it a genuine letter? Possibly a scammer if it doesn't appear fully legit?

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello All

I received a Single Justice Procedure Notice (SJPN) this afternoon through post that states that I have been charged with an offence committed on a Southeastern Service. The statement of facts as written on the notice is placed below

"On X day xy July 2022, [MY NAME] travelled from Penge East to Reading West. [MY NAME] was unable to produce the necessary documentation to validagte their ticket for the journey and was issued a Pentalty Fare Notice. Two reminder letters were sent but the Penalty Fare remains unpaid. [MY NAME] was informed that the matter would be reported if the Penalty Fare was not paid. [MY NAME] has either not responded to the matter or has been informed by the independent appeals service that any appeal made against the Penalty Fare Notice was unsuccessful"

The Notice also mentions that I was given a Penalty Fare Notice at 05:12PM at London Victoria.

The Issue and why I need help

This is a case of mistaken identify as I was home in West London on the said day (so not travelled the said route) and hence I never received the said Penalty Fare notice. 1. Infact I was walking my Dog in a park between 04:29PM till 05:16PM in a West London Park miles away from London Victoria. I also have proof of this as a fitness app on my phone tracks my walks and times which I have saved.
2. Secondly though my name and address on the SJPN are correct, the date of birth mentioned is incorrect. Which leaves me perplexed regarding how this Notice made its way to my address. This makes me believe that perpetrator gave false information to the Southeastern ticket collector. Surely these collectors have to verify the information given by means of ID before issuing notices ? This clearly was not the case.
3. Finally , the Notice mentions and as stated in the blue text above 'Two Reminder Letters' were sent out. However I never received any of these , otherwise I would have challenged this directly with Southeastern.

I am a bit confused how to proceed with fighting this case , so any advice would be greatly appreciated. It seems I would have to go to court since I would be pleading Not guilty and defend myself.
I have 20 days to respond with Not Guilty , though as a law abiding citizen I am worried if any permanent mark would be put on my record that could impact future background checks etc.

I would be seeking advice from the citizen advice bureau as well.

Thank you for being patient and reading this post.
Kind Regards

did you have any luck contacting the court or southeastern?

 

[island]

As you did not receive either of the two reminder letters, do you live in a property where your post is not put directly through your door or into a box to which only you and you alone have access? Whether this would be an advantage, I do not know, but it might at least give you more information to work on.

I was also wondering this.

 

[Nitcbitsy]

Thank you Everyone for your guidance and advice.
These are the steps that I took yesterday and am sharing the details here for anyone who might be in a similar predicament to me with SouthEastern.

I call Southeastern Prosecutions Dept , the number for this is 0330 095 9327. The address and phone number were available on the 'Charge Sheet' - a copy of which was provided to me with the SJPN.
On calling I spoke to one of the SouthEastern' team member who then asked me to send an email to ' [email protected] ' my case. I explained the Mistaken Identity issue to them, stating that I never even received the 2 Penalty Fare Notices. In the same email I furnished a copy of my driving license which has my - Photo, address and dob. I also sent a screenshot of my Google Fit tracker that indicates my movements near my home at the exact time I was supposedly handed a ticket at London Victoria (as suggested within the charge sheet). This clearly indicates without doubt that I was present in a different part of London, 15 miles away from London Victoria at the said incident time. I regularly walk my dog in the same park , so if this does go to court then I have months of data on my phone to prove that A) the screenshot is from my phone (and not someone elses) and B) This dog walking path is something of a habit and not a one off journey.
In my email to SouthEastern - I have stated that I need an acknowledgement from them within a Week. Hopefully they can respond and close the case.

I then phoned the court directly and spoke to a lady who surprisingly could not find my Case no ! However she adviced me to progress the paper work stating Not Guilty. I would be proactively enclosing a copy of my driving license and the Google Fit screenshot in an effort to nip this at the bud.

My true concerns lies with the greater issue regarding Identify Theft. What is stopping this person to using my name and address in some other dodgy business. And so I will be making a police complaint in a far fetched effort to get hold of some CCTV from Victoria Station at the said date and time of the incident. That B@st@rd has committed not just a fare evasion crime but an identify theft crime as well and should pay for this.

Finally, I am as clueless as to why I did not receive the Two Penalty Fare Notices. My address has been the same for over 5 years, and I dont have any other correspondence address. This makes me believe that the fault lies with SouthEastern - and I am a bit frustrated that as a consequence I am having to spend valuable time and efforts to clear up this mess.

On a weird point of note - is it a genuine letter? Possibly a scammer if it doesn't appear fully legit?

The SJPN seems legit, though a scam thought did cross my mind after speaking to the court and being told that they cant find my details or dont have any such case number.

 

[Haywain]

to get hold of some CCTV from Victoria Station at the said date and time of the incident.

You have no right to the CCTV so don’t waste your time.

 

[Nitcbitsy]

I think the problem here is that because there is no requirement in this country to carry photo ID, revenue staff cannot then insist on it. They just ask for a name and address. If a fare evader gives an address which is subsequently checked to exist against a public database, and then the name given is matched with the electoral register, the TOC is entitled to assume that is correct until told otherwise. Preventing this problem happening would require compulsory carrying of official photo ID at all times, and that will never be accepted.

This is my frustration too - the duty of verifying the identity of an offender should rest with the issuer/ issuer company. The SJPN does contain a sheet with is a copy of the Penalty Fare Notice (supposedly I was sent two of these I never received). This section captures details around Ethnic appearance, Hair type, Hair colour, facial hair, build and height - and coincidently they all match mine. Atleast this narrows down the perpetrator description too. However the date of birth is the only difference.
Thank god my google fit tracker was here to save me - otherwise my wife was at work and I didnt think I ran into anyone during the walk that I could use as a witness.
I dont understand why one would not carry a photo id at all times ! so wish this should come into law in the future.

 

[Fawkes Cat]

You have no right to the CCTV so don’t waste your time.

To expand on this a little:

There's a GDPR right to your personal data - which (within reason) includes your image. But as your image won't be on the Victoria CCTV (because you were walking the dog in a park somewhere else) your image/personal data won't be on the CCTV - so you don't have a right to the CCTV.

There's also a simpler, more pragmatic reason: our understanding is that CCTV is routinely only kept for a few days. The incident was some time in July. So the CCTV footage has probably been recorded over by now.

 

[Haywain]

the duty of verifying the identity of an offender should rest with the issuer/ issuer company.

The train company were given a name and address, and will almost certainly have confirmed that it was correct. If the person stopped does not offer any other means of verification the train company has to assume it is correct. But they will come up against the problem of it being someone else on an almost daily basis.

I dont understand why one would not carry a photo id at all times ! so wish this should come into law in the future.

It will never happen in this country, there is far too much opposition on all sides of politics.

 

[WesternLancer]

Thank you Everyone for your guidance and advice.
These are the steps that I took yesterday and am sharing the details here for anyone who might be in a similar predicament to me with SouthEastern.

I call Southeastern Prosecutions Dept , the number for this is 0330 095 9327. The address and phone number were available on the 'Charge Sheet' - a copy of which was provided to me with the SJPN.
On calling I spoke to one of the SouthEastern' team member who then asked me to send an email to ' [email protected] ' my case. I explained the Mistaken Identity issue to them, stating that I never even received the 2 Penalty Fare Notices. In the same email I furnished a copy of my driving license which has my - Photo, address and dob. I also sent a screenshot of my Google Fit tracker that indicates my movements near my home at the exact time I was supposedly handed a ticket at London Victoria (as suggested within the charge sheet). This clearly indicates without doubt that I was present in a different part of London, 15 miles away from London Victoria at the said incident time. I regularly walk my dog in the same park , so if this does go to court then I have months of data on my phone to prove that A) the screenshot is from my phone (and not someone elses) and B) This dog walking path is something of a habit and not a one off journey.
In my email to SouthEastern - I have stated that I need an acknowledgement from them within a Week. Hopefully they can respond and close the case.

I then phoned the court directly and spoke to a lady who surprisingly could not find my Case no ! However she adviced me to progress the paper work stating Not Guilty. I would be proactively enclosing a copy of my driving license and the Google Fit screenshot in an effort to nip this at the bud.

My true concerns lies with the greater issue regarding Identify Theft. What is stopping this person to using my name and address in some other dodgy business. And so I will be making a police complaint in a far fetched effort to get hold of some CCTV from Victoria Station at the said date and time of the incident. That B@st@rd has committed not just a fare evasion crime but an identify theft crime as well and should pay for this.

Finally, I am as clueless as to why I did not receive the Two Penalty Fare Notices. My address has been the same for over 5 years, and I dont have any other correspondence address. This makes me believe that the fault lies with SouthEastern - and I am a bit frustrated that as a consequence I am having to spend valuable time and efforts to clear up this mess.


The SJPN seems legit, though a scam thought did cross my mind after speaking to the court and being told that they cant find my details or dont have any such case number.

Thanks for this update - hope it nips things in the bud. Helpful info included will surely be of use to other people in due course.
Good luck and keep us posted.

 

[greyman42]

My true concerns lies with the greater issue regarding Identify Theft. What is stopping this person to using my name and address in some other dodgy business.

Nothing to stop them. It happens.

 

[njr001]

Is it possible that some of the details given initially were incorrect, like a slightly different address, so you didn't receive the penalty fare notices. As no response was received SouthEastern did more checking and were able to find your address from other sources prior to issuing the SJPN?

 

[spag23]

Two thoughts:
1. If a TOC (in general) refuses an SAR to release CCTV on the grounds that the person featured is NOT the alleged offender applicant, doesn't that constitute an admission that the applicant is indeed not the alleged offender?
2. The fitness app and phone data prove only the whereabouts of the handset, and are not a cast iron alibi that the handset OWNER was at the same place. Though that is clearly not the case here, and the TOC would be pretty desperate to challenge this prima facie evidence.

 

[skyhigh]

1. If a TOC (in general) refuses an SAR to release CCTV on the grounds that the person featured is NOT the alleged offender applicant, doesn't that constitute an admission that the applicant is indeed not the alleged offender?

Not in my opinion. If the OP is claiming they are not in the CCTV, then they can't also ask to see the CCTV of someone else as they're claiming they are not in it. It would only constitute an admission if the OP said they wanted to see the footage of themselves but the TOC then declined on the basis that it wasn't the OP.

 

[spag23]

It's a logical Mobius strip. Or a Catch 22.
He doesn't have to claim he's not on the CCTV; he's simply denying the offence. So he can tell the TOC that he has it on good authority (the TOC!) that they have footage of him; which he therefore wants to see.
OK, in this case it's probably been deleted anyway, but a principle worth establishing.

 

[AlterEgo]

The OP has no right to access CCTV of a crowd of people he claims not to be in. Nothing else needs to be considered as any attempt to access the CCTV is abortive from the outset.

 

[Snow1964]

The train company were given a name and address, and will almost certainly have confirmed that it was correct.

They can only check that it it exists, not that it belongs to the person they are dealing with. But as there are millions of names with addresses on the internet freely available that can be copied it is questionable if it will actually identify someone who knows how to game the system.

 

[Haywain]

They can only check that it it exists, not that it belongs to the person they are dealing with. But as there are millions of names with addresses on the internet freely available that can be copied it is questionable if it will actually identify someone who knows how to game the system.

Did I say it was correctly identifying the OP? No, I said that the name and address apparently matched. There is not much more that the train company can do to check if identifying documents are not presented.

 

[Cowley]

Moving on and wishing to keep this useful for @Nitcbitsy, there is now a thread for discussing the CCTV side of things here:

The use of CCTV in a dispute or prosecution.

The OP has no right to access CCTV of a crowd of people he claims not to be in. Nothing else needs to be considered as any attempt to access the CCTV is abortive from the outset. mods note - split from here. Easily solved. There are two branches of the TOC involved; the prosecutors and the...

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