Maximum penalty charge for Sec 18(2) offence

[Hugo Shaw]

I was charged £400 for a section 18 (2) offence which i find absolutely ridiculous. I will like to make a formal complaint to First capital connect as this is my first offence and did not even commit the offence knowingly. All this was explained and was asked to pay a penalty of £175, costs of £198 and ticket charge of £15.
Is there a way of claiming back some of the £400 paid?

 

[JN114]

Is there a way of claiming back some of the £400 paid?

Not really. Given costs are involved; I presume this penalty has been imposed by a court? Therefore you have been found guilty of the offence(s) with which you were charged and penalised per the guidelines for those offences.

 

[Hadders]

You'll need to give us more details. First Capital Connect ceased operating trains almost 4 years ago......

 

[Fare-Cop]

I was charged £400 for a section 18 (2) offence which i find absolutely ridiculous. I will like to make a formal complaint to First capital connect as this is my first offence and did not even commit the offence knowingly. All this was explained and was asked to pay a penalty of £175, costs of £198 and ticket charge of £15.
Is there a way of claiming back some of the £400 paid?

The FIne and costs have been imposed by a Court so a formal complaint to the TOC will have no effect whatsoever and as Hadders says, FCC are no longer in business.

You say ‘all this was explained’ so are we to assume you were present at Court, or do you mean that you had written to the TOC ?

You go on to say that you ‘did not even commit the offence knowingly’. An offence contrary to National Railways Byelaw 18.2 (2005) is a strict liability matter. You either did fail to show a ticket when asked or you showed one. If the Court are satisfied that you failed to do so then the fine & costs etc. are correctly imposed.

You could Appeal the Courts decision, but if you are guilty of failing to show a ticket I don’t hold out much chance of success and if you are represented it is likely to be considerably more expensive in the long run.

 

[najaB]

Is there a way of claiming back some of the £400 paid?

Claim from...?

And to answer the question in the thread title, I believe it's £1,000 plus costs, etc.

 

[island]

The maximum fine is £1,000 not including the costs etc.

I don’t know whom you’re proposing to “claim this back” from. First Capital Connect is long defunct anyway, and court fines are charged to criminals like yourself as punishment, to deter you from committing further offences, and to deter others from committing similar ones.

The avenues open to you if you wish to take this further are limited. Your post reads as though you were present in court when you were convicted and sentence was passed. If this is not so and you became aware of your conviction when you received correspondence from or on behalf of the court requesting payment of the above sum, or your earnings or benefits were attached, you have 21 days from when you became aware of the matter to make a Statutory Declaration at a solicitor or magistrates court which will cancel the fine and set aside the conviction, and the matter can be dealt with again.

If you were present, then you can within 21 days of sentencing appeal to the Crown Court or ask to state a case to the High Court. In principle you can also ask the magistrates to reconsider without a time limit or lodge a judicial review within 3 months, but these are rarely successful.

 

[mikeg]

Assuming that this was the result of a criminal trial I have the following questions :
Did you plead guilty?
Was this at the first opportunity if yes?
Did you declare your income to the court?

If you could answer yes to the first two this would have reduced your fine by a third. The last one would have reduced your fine unless you had loadsamoney.
Also I'm assuming that this is a court case and assuming it was years ago. The OP may be simply using the name FCC out of habit and may be referring to TSGN.

 

[Haywain]

FCC are no longer in business

If this is a recent prosecution it is likely to have been brought before the court by Govia Thameslink Railway, who now operate all of the former FCC franchise.