Fare’s Fair – As many as 74,000 prosecutions for alleged rail fare evasion in England and Wales are set to be quashed following a landmark ruling.
UK rail companies had been fast-tracking alleged ticket dodging offences using a process called the single justice procedure (SJP), which allows magistrates’ hearings to be held behind closed doors.
But on Thursday, the chief magistrate for England and Wales, Judge Goldspring, declared six test cases as void, external, saying the process should never have been used.
The exact number of similar cases that will need to be quashed is still unclear.
Authorities including the Department for Transport (DfT) as well as train companies will now have to agree a list of all people whose prosecutions could be overturned by the end of September.
These people would be “directly contacted…to resolve the cases,” a DfT spokesperson said.
The process of refunding fines is likely to take months.
Firstly, individuals will have to be identified by courts and train companies. They will then have to be contacted before they can be reimbursed.
Judge Goldspring said a team would “begin the work of recovering the money paid and refund the money to individuals” by November.
“There are discussions ongoing with all the parties about how that may be paid,” he added.
The DfT said, external affected cases were prosecuted by Northern, Transpennine, Avanti West Coast, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Arriva Rail Northern and Merseyrail.
It said the list could be amended and may be updated on Monday, 19 August.
In a hearing last month both Northern Trains, the government-owned operator, and Greater Anglia had apologised for using SJPs.
Northern stated it “welcomed” the ruling, adding: “We would like to apologise again for the errors that have occurred.”
It also said: “Northern remains committed to ensuring that all our customers are treated fairly, which means ensuring all passengers who board our trains have a valid ticket.”
The DfT said: “While fare evasion should be tackled, the right process should be followed at all times.”
Nathan Seymour-Hyde, a solicitor and partner at Reeds Solicitors, said contacting people affected would be “a big mess to untangle” and that it could be about £30m that needed to be returned.
He also said the ruling didn’t “mean that people can just get on trains and and dodge their fare.”
“The train companies can simply amend their procedures and always prosecute under the railway bylaws when using the single justice procedure, or they can prosecute another way in open court listings, and then they can select whatever offence they like that way,” Mr Seymour-Hyde said.
Fare’s Fair.
