Early on the morning of 21st April 2014 (Easter Monday) my son travelled from Kings Cross to Stevenage as one of a group of six passengers.
He doesn't travel on the railway very often and decided it would be prudent to check with barrier staff at Kings Cross, before travelling, to ensure that the tickets they held were still valid for travel.
The member of staff there assured them that they were OK and allowed them all through the ticket barrier.
On arrival at Stevenage they found that their tickets wouldn't work at the barriers and, not surprisingly, an RPI stopped them.
Three of the passengers explained the situation to this RPI, he accepted their explanation and they were allowed to leave the station. However, at this point another RPI approached and immediately took a contrasting view. The first RPI seemed to be intimidated by her, and took no further part in the matter, leaving my son in a difficult position as he had taken issue with the second RPI purely on the basis that according to two independent members of rail staff, at completely separate stations, he was travelling legally.
The long and the short of it is that he has received a notice of intended prosecution, not due to any problem with his ticket but for allegedly failing to hand over his ticket for inspection.
He maintains that he handed his ticket over straight away when asked. After all, he had nothing to hide: he had been told his ticket was valid for travel. The proof that he handed over his ticket should be on the booking hall CCTV.
Has anybody out here had a similar experience at the hands of revenue staff ? Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks for your help.
He doesn't travel on the railway very often and decided it would be prudent to check with barrier staff at Kings Cross, before travelling, to ensure that the tickets they held were still valid for travel.
The member of staff there assured them that they were OK and allowed them all through the ticket barrier.
On arrival at Stevenage they found that their tickets wouldn't work at the barriers and, not surprisingly, an RPI stopped them.
Three of the passengers explained the situation to this RPI, he accepted their explanation and they were allowed to leave the station. However, at this point another RPI approached and immediately took a contrasting view. The first RPI seemed to be intimidated by her, and took no further part in the matter, leaving my son in a difficult position as he had taken issue with the second RPI purely on the basis that according to two independent members of rail staff, at completely separate stations, he was travelling legally.
The long and the short of it is that he has received a notice of intended prosecution, not due to any problem with his ticket but for allegedly failing to hand over his ticket for inspection.
He maintains that he handed his ticket over straight away when asked. After all, he had nothing to hide: he had been told his ticket was valid for travel. The proof that he handed over his ticket should be on the booking hall CCTV.
Has anybody out here had a similar experience at the hands of revenue staff ? Any comments or advice would be very much appreciated. Many thanks for your help.