Have You Been Wrongfully Prosecuted for Fare Evasion?

With over 74,000 rail fare evasion prosecutions in England and Wales set to be overturned, you could be entitled to significant compensation over and above what the Train companies may initially offer you.

A recent landmark ruling at Westminster Magistrates’ Court has invalidated thousands of train fare evasion prosecutions, entitling those affected to have their convictions quashed. The court determined that numerous cases brought by train companies, including Northern Rail and Western Railway, were improperly handled using the Single Justice Procedure (SJP).Six test cases were ruled void, with prosecutions under sections 5(1) and 5(3) of the Railways Act 1889 being found invalid when conducted under the Single Justice Procedure

Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring ruled that the SJP, a fast-track system designed for minor offenses under the Criminal Justice and Courts Act 2015 , was unlawfully applied to fare evasion cases. The SJP allows a single magistrate to deal with a case behind closed doors, based on written evidence only. Intended for summary, non-imprisonable offenses, the SJP was misused for fare evasion under the 1989 Act, which is not permitted by the procedure. The ruling affirmed that these charges were invalid and should never have been processed through the SJP.

The Department for Transport (DfT) and the implicated train companies —Northern, TransPennine, Avanti West Coast, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Arriva Rail North, and Merseyrail—are now working to compile a list of affected individuals. This process will involve contacting those who have been wrongfully prosecuted and arranging refunds for fines and court costs. However, this process may take several months and the exact number of cases remains unclear.

Legal Context and Judicial Reviews

The misuse of the SJP for rail fare evasion cases follows a series of judicial reviews and precedents such as Haye [2002] and Gayle [2004], which involved quashing convictions due to procedural non-compliance. More recent rulings in Sekhon [2003], Soneji [2006], and Ashton [2007] established a more flexible approach, focusing on whether Parliament intended breaches of procedure to invalidate proceedings. The latest ruling now suggests that significant procedural errors, like the misuse of the SJP in fare evasion cases, make the proceedings invalid from the start.

What Does This Mean for You?

If you have been affected by a wrongful prosecution for fare evasion, you could be entitled to compensation based on the particular circumstances of your case that may go well beyond that initially offered to you by the train companies involved.

Contact Twelve Tabulae today to start your recovery process.