Harringay, Haringey - So Good they Spelt it Twice!
Help with Magistrates court summons
Does anyone know how to deal with a Magistrates court summons for (part erroneously, I believe!) issued for non payment of a train fare
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by james walsh on
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Maggi. I'm not sure what your asking but Call the magistrates court that issued the summons and ask any question you have, they have staff that will give you impartial guidance. Otherwise, call Citizens advice Bureau.
http://www.citizensadvice.org.uk/
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James - thanks for replying. To be honest I'm not sure what I'm looking for. I've never had a summons before and am not sure of the best way forward. I need to reply to the letter but don't want to make the current situation worse by getting it wrong so thought I'd check if there was anyone around who had been in a similar situation.
I'll try both your suggestions tomorro.
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Thanks Hugh - all advice helpful. Some sites I didn't actually know about.
So will sift through.
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Permalink Reply by Malc B on
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What do you mean by part erroneously?
You need to respond one way or the other to the summons. If you have a leg to stand on, there is merit in first contacting the prosecutions team at TFL/the NR franchise who are prosecuting you, but you need to spell everything out clearly, explaining (with reference to the TFL prosecutions code/terms of carriage etc) why you did not / could not / commit or have a defence to the offence alleged...
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Thanks Malcolm,
I had paid for part of the fare but not the other.
I've writtent to them alreadly and am now trying to contact them by phone.
Hopefully I'll be able to get somewhere if I can talk to someone.
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Cheers Maggi. Before you do so, I'd recommend making sure that you know chapter and verse about how your case fits into the applicable rules/regulations. There are different charges, and some (e.g. fare evasion) are more serious than others.
Were you travelling without a valid ticket though? If so, because it's strict liability and difficult to defend (unless the ticket machine was broken and you attempted to buy a ticket when the guard approached you) then best strategy may be to explain how you think you might be able to defend the case, but offer to pay the difference in fare as well as their prosecution costs (usually ~£100) if they drop the prosecution...
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I had a ticket for part of the journey but not for the remainder and offered to pay on arrival but it wasn't an option.
I've explained in my original letter that I wasn't tryng to evade the fare and would have paid the remainder at any point if it had been possible.
My original letter seems to have been by-passed so I just want to follow that up by phone.
Otherwise I may just have to pay the prosecution costs.
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Best bet is to be contrite, point all of this out - explain that you attempted to buy a ticket at the earliest possible opportunity, but was told this was not possible. However, if it was possible for you to buy the ticket before you left (i.e. there was a ticket booth or machine at the station you left from) then, unless you can find some other technical defence, you're out of luck. The case which always gets trotted out, and which the rail companies and enforcement people are all too aware of is attached.
So, I'd say - be contrite, offer to pay the difference and the prosecution costs and hope they accept it. Much better to do it this way than to end up with a criminal conviction. - Attachments:
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![[1978] 1 W.L.R. 400.pdf](https://static.ning.com/socialnetworkmain/widgets/forum/gfx/fileicons/pdf.gif?xn_version=539796025)
[1978] 1 W.L.R. 400.pdf, 291 KB
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I think I was hoping that I might be able to get away without paying the prosecution costs but I suspect that this will not be the case.
Many thanks though.
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Unlikely - your call as to whether you want to try, but I wouldn't recommend it. If you can get them to agree to drop the prosecution (they won't always do so) and avoid a stain on your criminal record I would consider it a result...
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