It's risky to try to determine the outcome of one case based on the outcome of others as they are all dealt with on their own merit. With that said, I would be very surprised if this landed you in court. If what you have posted here is a complete and accurate description of events, I would expect the TOC to be amenable to settling the matter without taking it through the courts. I would expect that if you were to save up a small three figure sum (e.g. £150) you'll probably get some change out of it.
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Prosecution letter on the way - please help!!
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Rather than stating the fundamentals, you made an unambiguous statement which I challenged as I do not believe this
to be true. As I said, it is quite feasible to be travelling with insufficient money for a new ticket if you believed you already had a valid ticket and hence had no expectation at all of needing to buy a new one.
Of course, if it turned out your ticket was not valid after all, and you had insufficient funds to buy another, that will cause problems ... but it does not automatically equate to an intent to avoid paying as you stated.
bb21
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Add "under normal circumstances" to the front if you wish, and perhaps "from the company's perspective" as that is the one that matters. I have further elaborated in a later post, I don't see why you are getting so hung up on a technicality.
If you want to go down that route then also remember that intent is determined by behaviour. In the absence of any strong argument to the contrary, from the company's perspective, it can only realistically be considered that intent was there, and it will not be the passenger's choice whether the case proceeds to court. Where a mistake was made, of course it muddies the water. The difficulty is persuading the prosecutors that it was so.
.222007
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I imagine you will be able to settle out of court some TOC's accept as little as £80 some closer to £200 but i would strongly advise this as a better option than going to court which would cost considerably more
gray1404
Established Member
I think all you can do now is just wait for the letter to arrive. Can't really do much untill then. So you can put it on hold for now, do not worry (that won't achieve anything), knowing that you have some idea of what your going to when it does arrive. And you can come back here for advise at a later date too. 
That they haven't got around to your case yet. They have up to six months to lay papers before the Court (if that's what they want to do), so still some time yet.
I think however we are meant to hear back from them. That is what the RPI said at Cambridge station. She also said I would get a letter after only 2 weeks. The rail company also states I THINK that you will hear within 21 days - i am also not confusing that with the 21 days you have to appeal
221129
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They don't have to contact you at all. Although they likely will.
bb21
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Policies don't always mean very much unfortunately. Legally they have six months to lay the papers in front of the court and it may take even longer for a date to be set for the hearing and you contacted. It is not unheard of for people to receive court papers after the six-month period has elapsed.
Sometimes it is simply a waiting game I'm afraid.
Of course as ollieb said, they normally tend to contact you, but obviously this is not compulsory if they felt that they had sufficient evidence to proceed.
6 months.
cjmillsnun
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It's 6 months for the papers to be laid in a magistrates court if a criminal prosecution is being sought. The summons may take up to 2-3 months longer than that (that is of course, if it goes to court).
If the debt is pursued as a civil debt, then the statue of limitations is 6 years from either the original debt/default, or a CCJ being enforced, whichever is later.
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The OP has been told all this already, but must've thought we said six weeks, rather than six months.
I didnt think you said 6 weeks. I understand the 6 months for the papers to be laid in a court But, it seems, on all the cases I have read, many of which are much more serious than mine - i,e people giving false details, adults travelling on children's tickets, and these people have heard from them nearly every time, at least the company has requested they complete their version of events soon after. This is 2 months of nothing - do they ever just drop cases?
We have had plenty of people posting for advice on incidents that happened months ago. Sometimes they are quick, sometimes they take longer but it is rare that they would drop a case without writing to you to say as much. Are you sure that they have your correct address?
Common but not definitive. We have definitely had people posting here having received correspondence about issues that had happened months previously.
Have a bit of an update: I think the RPI actually used the wrong form: she issued me with a tiny slip, it said I could complete the journey as long as I produced the season ticket in the next 14 days. I dont have a season ticket, never have, never said I did and was just travelling on a regular ticket. Conversation about a season ticket never happened. Procedurally, it looks like she has made a mistake?
Possibly, but not one that would cause any potential prosecution to fail. If the TOC was minded to pursue a Railway Byelaws prosecution, only two matters of fact would be tested in court: 1) Did you have a valid ticket to travel by train; and 2) Did you have an opportunity to purchase the correct ticket before boarding?
Since the answers are 'No' and 'Yes' respectively a Byelaw prosecution would succeed.
That said, I would be surprised if they went straight to a prosecution in your case.
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