Mistaken identity

[Loulollipop]

My 21 year old son who has lived in South wales all his life and never been to the North of England has been prosecuted by northern rail and fined by Preston magistrates court (all letters sent to some address in leyton). 1st he heard of it was receiving a final notice payment threatening letter yesterday. He was never in the North of england but can't prove it as he was a student studying from home at the time due to lockdown. The unpaid ticket or whatever it is, was in December 2020. They are going to re open the case and move it to Newport magistrates court. Cannot believe this is happening. The person travelling has the same name and date of birth as my son had up until it was changed to my surname at the age of 6. We are thinking of getting a solicitor. What should we do? Any advice? Thank you.

 

[gray1404]

Has your son filled out and submitted a statutory declaration already? Have you made Northern Rail aware of their error?

A statutory declaration has the effect of resetting the legal process so it is important this is done. However there is a strict time limit form the date you become aware of the conviction.

One would hope that upon making Northern Rail aware of their error they would simply withdraw the reset/rescheduled case. Just to be clear it would be their Prosecutions Department you need to get in touch with and NOT Customer Services.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

Unfortunately these things do happen occasionally. It should be reasonably easy, if a little stressful, to sort out. It sounds as though you have made a Statutory Declaration which has the effect of turning the clock back to before the original court case took place. If haven't made a statutory decalration then you must do so without delay.

I would follow @gray1404's suggestion of contacting Northern Rail. They are required to dosclose the evidence against you before the court case. You probably don't need a solicitor if you are confident in dealing with the situation but it might be worth contacting a local solicitor who specilaises in criminal defence work, especially as some might offer a free initial consultation if you feel you need further guidance.

 

[Loulollipop]

Thanks, yes we have done a statutory declaration and contacted nothern rail prosecutions who can't help as its now with the courts. They said they will provide evidence to the court when the case is heard as they can clearly see the name and address of the person they were after who is not my son. Its going to be a process and I hope you are right that it will be straightforward but what a waste of everyone's time and money including mine. I've already spent 4 hours dealing with this.

 

[357]

If your son has Google Maps on his phone, see if he can tap his photo/avatar circle in the top right corner, then tap timeline. He may be able to scroll through the calendar to find the day in question. Google Maps logs may be able to prove that at least his phone was somewhere totally different.

 

[gray1404]

So it sounds like Northern Rail are going to withdraw the case as soon as it is called by the court. However I am not convinced that they cannot do this in advance of the hearing.

 

[Loulollipop]

Thank you. We have opened a statutory disclosure and hopefully it will be straight forward like you suggest

If your son has Google Maps on his phone, see if he can tap his photo/avatar circle in the top right corner, then tap timeline. He may be able to scroll through the calendar to find the day in question. Google Maps logs may be able to prove that at least his phone was somewhere totally different.

He doesn't have tracking enabled, arggg

So it sounds like Northern Rail are going to withdraw the case as soon as it is called by the court. However I am not convinced that they cannot do this in advance of the hearing.

I have sent them an email now explaining the situation, however, I am worried this could happen again with an offence committed by this same person

 

[30907]

I th8nk you have done all that you reasonably can.

However: I would assume that the offender knows your son well enough to know his DOB, and your last sentence suggests you/he have an inkling as to their identity. I am curious that they gave a Leyton (East London)* address, and I wonder if this was done maliciously, rather than to save their skin.

If either of you think that is likely, and that it might recur, then (and only then) it might be worth getting further advice.

* I assume you don't mean Layton near Blackpool, not that it matters.

 

[skyhigh]

However: I would assume that the offender knows your son well enough to know his DOB, and your last sentence suggests you/he have an inkling as to their identity. I am curious that they gave a Leyton (East London)* address, and I wonder if this was done maliciously, rather than to save their skin.

Alternatively it could genuinely be someone with the same name and DOB who has been prosecuted, but the debt collectors have traced it to the wrong person. Unlikely maybe, but wouldn't be the first time.

The person travelling has the same name and date of birth as my son had up until it was changed to my surname at the age of 6.

Especially given it seems the letter used a previous surname.

 

[Wallsendmag]

Alternatively it could genuinely be someone with the same name and DOB who has been prosecuted, but the debt collectors have traced it to the wrong person. Unlikely maybe, but wouldn't be the first time.

Especially given it seems the letter used a previous surname.

That very scenario caused problem for my Wife when entering the USA for the first time after we were married. A violent drug using felon had the same name and DOB luckily they were male so it was a quick fix.

 

[6Gman]

Alternatively it could genuinely be someone with the same name and DOB who has been prosecuted, but the debt collectors have traced it to the wrong person. Unlikely maybe, but wouldn't be the first time.

Especially given it seems the letter used a previous surname.

It happens. I have a fairly unusual name - the surname is reasonably common but my first name is never going to be in those lists of 100 most popular names for babies and is pretty localised. Despite this the DWP once managed to find someone with the same name and date of birth which caused some confusion when they started asking about my army service (I have never been in the army).

So likeliest this is someone who knows the OP's son well enough to play a mean trick, but it could be a genuine case of mistaken identity.

 

[Loulollipop]

Hi all,

I'm pleased to say all has been resolved. It was an administrative error made by the lancashire fines enforcement office which I assume means the offender shares the same date of birth as my son.

No we have no clue who the offender is and I was genuinely worried about my son being linked to this unknown man and I meant he lives in Leyland which is where i was told was the address provided by nothern rail (I'm really not familiar with the North of england).

I sent lancashire law enforcement anything I could to explain my sons birth name change of name and place of residence and thankfully someone received the information with a brain and could clearly see they were chasing the wrong person and how the error was made and have given us a full apology.

I was told many times by officials that this was impossible and kept telling them it wasn't as it was happening to my son.

Northern rail were actually quite helpful and genuinely couldn't help as, as far as they were concerned the case was finalised. Although they are in the process of obtaining the original information they provided to the court.

Newport magistrates on the other hand were not. In fact they were so aggressive and threatening we are thinking of moving to lancashire ha ha.

It's fair to say this has been stressful and not easy. Navigating the law, trying to get phone numbers and email addresses and being told my son would definitely be going to court to being told he couldn't get involved as he is not the defendant. What a merry go round...hope it doesn't happen to anyone else but I'm sure it will.

Thank you for all your help folks. If you know anyone else who encounters this strange and rare problem, I think the best thing to do is to try to find the source of the mistake and send them as much documentation as you can, not leave it to them to discover the mistake when it's going to court. That's my advice. It has taken me 2 days though.

All the best from South wales