Fare evasion & single justice procedure notice - please help

[summer 69]

Dear all, I would be thankful if you can please help with your expert advice on my 2 questions.

SEQUENCE OF EVENTS

August 2018 - I am an adult and I was travelling from Stratford to Bond Street using incorrect day travel card by mistake. When I touched out, it alarmed and revenue inspector had a word with me to collect my personal and contact details. I explained why this happened, apologised and did offer to pay the fine but they did not agree and said I will get a letter by post.
p.s. Prior to that I have no record of any fare evasion and also have good history on my TFL oyster.

September 2018 - I received a letter from TFL asking to accept / deny committing an offence, I did accept and sent an email with apology and explained my circumstances(health reasons) and impact of conviction on my life. Again, I did offer to pay the penalty. When I called their helpline couple of times in August they said my response is being looked at. The automated email did assure 14 day response but I didn’t get any.

Dec 2018 - I got single justice procedure notice with the charge for an offence committed. This is under byelaw. The application is being made for a £225 with 33% discount if I plead guilty. I have been given 3 options :-
1) plead guilty under the single justice procedure (Do not want to come to court)
2) plead guilty (I want to come to court)
3) plead not guilty (send me the date of my trail)

Please note that the conversation with the revenue inspector is documented on the notice however my request of paying penalty upfront has not been captured in notes. At this stage I’m happy to pay the fine but could do without a criminal conviction.

Questions -
A) if I plead guilty using option 1, will I acquire a criminal conviction ? If yes how long it will be held against me.
B) what would be the process for out of court settlement to avoid the criminal conviction at this stage?

Many thanks

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

Thanks for using the template and for providing all the information upfront. We don't get many people that do!

A) if I plead guilty using option 1, will I acquire a criminal conviction ? If yes how long it will be held against me.

A conviction under the Byelaws, whether TfL or (National) Rail, wouldn't give you a criminal record. Whilst it is a criminal conviction, it is an offence deemed immediately 'spent' under the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974. This means that, for most purposes, you are not obliged to disclose it. Nevertheless, there are a few purposes for which you may be obliged to disclose an already spent conviction, such as certain visa applications and vetting for certain clearances (high level security, financial regulation etc.), and in general some employers will appreciate it if you are upfront about a conviction rather than (lawfully) failing to disclose it.

B) what would be the process for out of court settlement to avoid the criminal conviction at this stage?

TfL are not known for being as amenable to negotiating out of Court settlements as the regular (commercial) train companies; however, it might still be possible. You'd want to get in touch with the Prosecutions department and offer to pay their costs, any fare(s) outstanding, plus an administrative penalty. It might still be possible to negotiate a settlement on the day, if you do take it to Court. But as you already have your Single Justice Procedure (SJP) Notice (aka summons), it may be too late if you intend to plead guilty and not turn up to Court, given possible time limits.

I am rather surprised that they are going for a Byelaws prosecution rather than the more serious Regulation of Railways Act offence of failing to pay the fare due, with intent to avoid payment thereof (which ought to be trivial to make out in a case of an adult using a child ticket). Perhaps their evidence isn't strong enough, in their view, to support such a prosecution, or they'd just rather go for the Byelaws prosecution for a different reason (possibly reducing administration?). All of which is to say - even if you aren't successful in negotiating an out of Court settlement, you've done pretty well to "get off" with a Byelaws prosecution.

Note, it might not be a good idea to give your personal details in your username and post. Member of staff at TfL and other rail organisations do read this forum, as well as this section, and you wouldn't want to prejudice your position. You can use the "Contact Us" option at the bottom of every page to request a username change to something that isn't as identifying, and to edit your posts there is a "Edit" button at the bottom of each post. I have deliberately removed your username from my quotes for your privacy!

 

[summer 69]

Thanks @ForTheLoveOf . I used fake name, anonymous dates and travel locations

Much appreciate your help.

Can you please send me the link to the document where it states that Byelaws get conviction which is immediately spent?

Thanks & Regards
!

 

[summer 69]

@ForTheLoveOf hope you are well? Can you please share your thoughts about query in the previous message?

 

[ForTheLoveOf]

@ForTheLoveOf hope you are well? Can you please share your thoughts about query in the previous message?

I don't think there is one official document where it is stated that a Railway Byelaws conviction is spent, merely that other offences (e.g. the Regulation of Railways Act) would lead to a criminal record for a certain period.

Have you read anything that contradicts what I have said?

 

[Puffing Devil]

Unfortunately, Byelaws are a grey area when it comes to disclosure and I have been unable to find a published source online, perhaps as are there are two conflicting pieces of law covering this.

Firstly, there is the notion of "Recordable Offences" - amongst other things, this specifies which offences should go onto police records. The rule of thumb is that if the offence is non-imprisonable, then it should not be recorded. The act is here: http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2000/1139/made

Secondly, we have the "Rehabilitation Period" after which time a conviction is spent and no longer needs to be declared. For a fine this is normally one year. (https://www.gov.uk/exoffenders-and-employment)

The grey area is this: For a Railway Byelaw the conviction punished by way of a fine, the conviction is not spent, yet it is not normally recorded and would not show on a Criminal Record Check, which means it is very unlikely to show up or be disclosed, as there is no formal "record".

I got single justice procedure notice with the charge for an offence committed. This is under byelaw. The application is being made for a £225 with 33% discount if I plead guilty.

To be clear about the amount of £225; this will be the costs of TFL in bringing the prosecution. If you plead guilty you will be fined a percentage of your weekly income (50-100% in this case, depending on how severely the court judges the offence) this amount will be discounted by 33% for a prompt guilty plea. You will also pay a victim surcharge of 10% of the fine value with a £30 minimum, plus TFL may also make an application for compensation for the fare avoided.

This is in addition to the costs.

 

[summer 69]

Thanks a lot very helpful. Many thanks @Puffing Devil @ForTheLoveOf

Best Regards