Single Justice Procedure Notice

[shadow01]

Hello,

I am a university student and am very concerned regarding a letter I received on the 08/03/23.
- On 19/01/23 I took the train from Falmer station to Brighton station (7 minute journey) with a railcard ticket for £2.50 (I did not have a railcard) and upon inspection at Brighton station I got told I will receive a letter asking me to explain it from my point of view.
- The receipt I got starts with GTREM.

I was with two friends and they both got the same response and also received their initial letter "Notice of Intent to prosecute" asking them to say what happened from their side and have now responded and got an out of court settlement.

I did not receive any such letter (my address is correct on the receipt I received from the officer) however on 8th March I received a pile of documents labelled "Single Justice Procedure Notice" and have been "charged with an offence committed on a Govia Thameslink Railway service"
- It states, "you have been charged with the following offence: That you on 19 Jan 2023, Did enter a train for the purpose of travelling on the railway, and upon inspection at Brighton (BTN); did not produce a valid ticket entitling travel"
- I have three options, Plead guilty under the SJP, plead guilty in court or plead not guilty.

I am very stressed out and worried that I will get a criminal record upon conviction and I am a final year university student about to graduate soon. I was waiting for the initial letter as my two friends got theirs not too long after. One friend responded but missed their deadline and received the same SJP notice however today they received a letter saying he can pay out of court fine. We both have a history of buying railcard tickets so I am not sure why I was the only one to not receive the initial letter. I live in university managed accommodation and have been since Jan 19 going to the reception to check for the "intent to prosecute" letter so I am confident that it has not arrived.

Is there a way for me to still pay out of court as I did not get a chance to explain my point of view and express that I have learnt from the mistake and have also bought a railcard? I only have 18 days to respond what should I do? I have attached a copy of the charge sheet and statement of facts excluding all personal details.

 

[Hadders]

Welcome to the forum!

GTR are generally one of the more pragmatic companies when it comes to settling these sort of things out of court. I would telephone their Prosecutions Department as soon as possible and tell them that you did not receive their initial letter.

 

[shadow01]

Welcome to the forum!

GTR are generally one of the more pragmatic companies when it comes to settling these sort of things out of court. I would telephone their Prosecutions Department as soon as possible and tell them that you did not receive their initial let

Thank you I will do that first thing on Monday, will keep you posted!

 

[WesternLancer]

Hello,

I am a university student and am very concerned regarding a letter I received on the 08/03/23.
- On 19/01/23 I took the train from Falmer station to Brighton station (7 minute journey) with a railcard ticket for £2.50 (I did not have a railcard) and upon inspection at Brighton station I got told I will receive a letter asking me to explain it from my point of view.
- The receipt I got starts with GTREM.

I was with two friends and they both got the same response and also received their initial letter "Notice of Intent to prosecute" asking them to say what happened from their side and have now responded and got an out of court settlement.

I did not receive any such letter (my address is correct on the receipt I received from the officer) however on 8th March I received a pile of documents labelled "Single Justice Procedure Notice" and have been "charged with an offence committed on a Govia Thameslink Railway service"
- It states, "you have been charged with the following offence: That you on 19 Jan 2023, Did enter a train for the purpose of travelling on the railway, and upon inspection at Brighton (BTN); did not produce a valid ticket entitling travel"
- I have three options, Plead guilty under the SJP, plead guilty in court or plead not guilty.

I am very stressed out and worried that I will get a criminal record upon conviction and I am a final year university student about to graduate soon. I was waiting for the initial letter as my two friends got theirs not too long after. One friend responded but missed their deadline and received the same SJP notice however today they received a letter saying he can pay out of court fine. We both have a history of buying railcard tickets so I am not sure why I was the only one to not receive the initial letter. I live in university managed accommodation and have been since Jan 19 going to the reception to check for the "intent to prosecute" letter so I am confident that it has not arrived.

Is there a way for me to still pay out of court as I did not get a chance to explain my point of view and express that I have learnt from the mistake and have also bought a railcard? I only have 18 days to respond what should I do? I have attached a copy of the charge sheet and statement of facts excluding all personal details.

If you have not already done so - Buy a Railcard before you ring them. At least if asked you can then say you took steps to prevent the error of judgment you made that day from happening again.

 

[spag23]

If you have not already done so - Buy a Railcard before you ring them.

And note the expiry date somewhere where it will reliably alert you. We see so many cases on this forum of overlooked expiries. The Railcard seller may issue a reminder, but you can't rely on it, or use its absence as an excuse if caught.

 

[island]

Hello,
The same exact thing has happened to me a couple days ago, would you be able to let me know if you called the prosecutions department and what they told you ? I am really worried myself ... @shadow01

Please make a new thread detailing what happened to you and including a copy of whatever paperwork you received, and we can advise you appropriately.