Norther Rail - Genuine Mistake - Fare Evasion Feb 2013

[Deerfold]

Can you clarify the address thing? Do I understand correctly that at the time you gave two addresses (one current and one previous) both of which may or may not be in the inspectors notebook? And that Northern used the wrong address in error?

My own thought (some legal training, but certainly not to the level of other forum members) is that if so, then they are now out of time. HOWEVER whether this is accepted (especially if no evidence to support that you gave your correct address) is another matter. Do you have the money to pay a solicitor to negotiate with Northern Rail on your behalf?

Other thoughts?

Provided they originally went to court within the time limits they should be fine. The OP's declaration that they did not recieve any notification of the case has effectively reset the clock.

IANAL

 

[34D]

Provided they originally went to court within the time limits they should be fine. The OP's declaration that they did not recieve any notification of the case has effectively reset the clock.

IANAL

You are correct. However I think you've missed the point I have tried to make

 

[reb0118]

"[F]reemen of the land" whackjobs[!]

Quality!

 

[34D]

Provided they originally went to court within the time limits they should be fine. The OP's declaration that they did not recieve any notification of the case has effectively reset the clock.

IANAL

I phoned a criminal lawyer friend of mine tonight. His opinion is that the name is the vital part of the information, not the address.

I have therefore struck out my comments on page 2

 

[Macca80]

Ok so I have had an email back from Northern Rails Prosecution Unit stating that they will not be taking the matter back to court. Additionally upon receipt of my correspondence and review of additional notes the matter is now closed.

As a gesture of goodwill they are not even going to request the fare owed.

This is a result beyond what I expected and am very grateful to Northern Rail for making an informed decision.

Thanks for everyone's advice on here too.

 

[talltim]

Good news. I wonder what it was that made them change their mind? Unfair as it seemed, it looked like they had a viable case legally

 

[34D]

Good news. I wonder what it was that made them change their mind? Unfair as it seemed, it looked like they had a viable case legally

Hopefully their notes had two addresses, and they could see that an administrative error had occurred.

 

[bb21]

This may well have been part of the reason. I am glad to hear that common sense prevailed.

 

[Macca80]

I believe the admin error was definitely one of the reasons but I also attached to my letter over 4 years of invoices provided by my employers rail team highlighting that this was nothing more than a one off genuine mistake.

I don't know whether this and to some extent that fact I was allowed to travel in the first place with an invalid ticket could have made it difficult to prove that I intentionally tried to avoid paying the rail fare.

Either way I am delighted with the outcome and the most valuable lesson it has taught me is to make sure my ticket is always in date.

 

[6Gman]

The fact that they have been sending correspondence to the wrong address and have been getting no response is lets be honest the real reason this has led to a prosecution.

But surely they sent the correspondence to an address which you supplied? Are you suggesting they should have sent two sets of documentation (to each of the addresses you supplied)? Would that even be possible/ legal?

When I have moved house I have found that Royal Mail offers an effective forwarding service. Did you not consider that option, particularly since you knew that you were likely to be served with legal papers?


EDIT: posted the above before reaching the end of the thread. Well done on the result!