"Paul Corfield" wrote in message
...
On Fri, 30 Apr 2004 19:32:17 +0000 (UTC), "evan"
wrote:

Sorry if this is an FAQ.

My partner has just been summonsed for fare evasion, for an incident in
November last year. She was worried about something important, got on an
R-route bus near Cannon St through the middle door & forgot to get her
pre-pay ticket (one of the hexagonal ones) validated by the driver. She
was
asked for her ticket, realised that she'd forgotten, apologised, showed
the
inspector her pre-pay voucher & offered to pay a penalty fare. He was
perfectly polite but wouldn't take this, & took her name & address.

[snip]

on the basis of what you have written the decision does seem to be a
little over the top to me. As others have suggested the non issuing of
the Penalty Fare seems odd - there must have been something your partner
said in response to the inspector's questions that made him conclude
that there was an intent to defraud London Buses. They do have
discretion as to what they do and their questioning technique is
designed to flush out the facts and intent behind the action. I should
point out that people carrying a £10 note or book of tickets "just in
case" can be seen as a sign of having "a back up" in your pocket in case
you are intercepted even though you are a determined and regular fare
evader (note that I am not casting aspersions here).

I assume you mean she was on a Red Arrow route - the 521? Did the
driver actually open the front doors? Many of them don't in order to
force people to use the other doors. Given the route can get
extraordinarily packed it can become impossible to offer a ticket to the
driver as you physically cannot get to the front. Your partner should
try to remember the journey in detail.

I understand that a conviction for fare evasion will result in a
criminal record because of the way the legislation works with regard to
public transport. Again as others have suggested you should enlist the
services of a solicitor.
--
Paul C


Admits to working for London Underground!


That's helpful, thanks - especially the issue of intent. We're going to see
a solicitor, specifically because we need to find out how strongly the case
agaist her has to prove "intent" - as far as I understand it's a valid issue
in some areas of the law, but not in others. And also whether the refusal to
accept her offer to pay a penalty affects things.

She didn't notice if the driver opened the front doors or not - she got on
at the middle because she was worried & upset about a meeting at which she
expected to be made redundant, & simply wasn't paying enough attention at
the time. If she'd got on at the front as normal then she'd have got her
voucher torn & been issued with a ticket.

My feeling is still that this is over the top - I think you may be right
about that particular route, which was indeed the 521.

--
Evan

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