Waiting for prosecution letter

[Haywain]

So in this case, they would have skipped any initial contact with me to issue me with a summons immediately, rather than the standard letter they seem to send to most people that I see on these forums? Is there any precedent on how commonly they leave this step until the last day of the 6 months to do this?

And separately, if this is what they choose to do, it seems like engaging a lawyer is the next logical step because the serious court steps are being taken, and the TOC are past the contact and negotiating phase?

You are overthinking this. It doesn’t become more serious because of the timing. Sometimes, and it’s unusual, a train company send out a summons just after the 6 months has passed but this can be accompanied by a letter offering to settle the matter for a specified payment. Even a summons will allow some time for a dialogue with the company.

 

[poertymdf]

It is practically unheard of to go straight to issuing a court summons. At least one letter is sent first.

We recently had a case where SWR issued papers that were out of time and the case was withdrawn after advice was taken fromt his forum and an approriate letter sent to SWR.

Ok, well I hope I am fortunate enough to not be sent straight to a court summons. @Hadders , if they do go straight to issuing a court summons, do I pretty much have no hope to avoid the consequences mentioned by @signed ?

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 16 Sep 2024 ==

You are overthinking this. It doesn’t become more serious because of the timing. Sometimes, and it’s unusual, a train company send out a summons just after the 6 months has passed but this can be accompanied by a letter offering to settle the matter for a specified payment. Even a summons will allow some time for a dialogue with the company.

Thanks for the advice. Apologies for sending so many questions, I'm just trying to understand the nature of my own self incurred issues from every angle possible.

 

[AlterEgo]

IANAL You will probably be found guilty either way if you are charged of anything but fraud, those are strict liability offenses (fraud isn't), if you did it, you will be found guilty.

Not all railway offences are strict liability.

RoRA 5)3)a) and b) both require either intent or committing an act wilfully.

 

[Hadders]

Ok, well I hope I am fortunate enough to not be sent straight to a court summons. @Hadders , if they do go straight to issuing a court summons, do I pretty much have no hope to avoid the consequences mentioned by @signed ?

If they go straight to a summons then we have seen cases where making contact with the train company Prosecutions Department has resulted in the case being withdrawn from court and a settlement offered.

In the meantime, try not to over think things.

 

[poertymdf]

Hi all, it's now been 7 months since the incident, and I waited to see this extra last month as advised by members on the forum to see if there had been any delayed processing of my case behind the scenes that I might hear about after the 6 month time limit had elapsed. I will still be anxiously keeping an eye on the postbox to see if this is an outlier case where things have been held up even further and I will still need to communicate with any relevant parties, but I am yet to receive anything in the mail from the TOC or any courts etc.

 

[AlterEgo]

Hi all, it's now been 7 months since the incident, and I waited to see this extra last month as advised by members on the forum to see if there had been any delayed processing of my case behind the scenes that I might hear about after the 6 month time limit had elapsed. I will still be anxiously keeping an eye on the postbox to see if this is an outlier case where things have been held up even further and I will still need to communicate with any relevant parties, but I am yet to receive anything in the mail from the TOC or any courts etc.

You don’t need to communicate with anyone if it’s gone over 6 months. There can be no prosecution. Ignore any correspondence which suggests this as a consequence.

 

[Gloster]

You don’t need to communicate with anyone if it’s gone over 6 months. There can be no prosecution. Ignore any correspondence which suggests this as a consequence.

But before you ignore it, read it carefully to check that it is a letter from the railway that has been issued after the deadline. It might be a letter from the courts that has taken a long time to get through the system: unlikely at this late stage, but possible. (My opinion.)

 

[poertymdf]

Ok thanks for getting back to me. I will still keep a keen eye and double check everything, and make another comment here if needed.

 

[RPI]

Also, if there are several previous journeys to consider, with a significant sum to claim, the railway may choose to reclaim through the civil court, to which there isn't a 6 month limit

 

[poertymdf]

That might be likely given this would have been around 6-8 journeys, so does anyone know what that process would entail and whether I would be able to engage with the TOC?

 

[John R]

Also, if there are several previous journeys to consider, with a significant sum to claim, the railway may choose to reclaim through the civil court, to which there isn't a 6 month limit

Are we aware of any instances where this has happened? I can't recall any.

 

[island]

Are we aware of any instances where this has happened? I can't recall any.

There's been one or two from GWR mentioned, but the overall numbers are minuscule.

 

[RPI]

Are we aware of any instances where this has happened? I can't recall any.

GWR are doing it a lot now.

 

[poertymdf]

Does anyone know what that process would entail, what the potential consequences (criminal or financial) could look like, and whether I would be able to engage with the TOC?

 

[Hadders]

Before anything ends up in court GWR would almost certainly contact you first.

You might want to look at GWR's Revenue Protection Policy

https://www.gwr.com/-/media/gwr-sc-website/files/revenue-protection-policy/GWR-Revenue-Protection-Policy-January-2023-v2.pdf