Prosecutions

In relation to the judgement made at Westminster Magistrates Court on 15 August 2024 by Senior District Judge Paul Goldspring and the wrong convictions brought under the Single Justice Procedure we will state the following facts.

Transport Investigations are the Prosecution Authority that acts on behalf of several Train Operators as they are specialists in rail fare law and have never brought cases incorrectly in the Single Justice Procedure. We strongly support the facts that Judge Paul Goldspring has made that any offences under the Regulation of Railways Act should be brought in open court.

The Single Justice procedure was only meant for lesser offences such as a railway byelaw where the matter is a strict liability offence. As such Transport investigations have never used the Single Justice Procedure on behalf of their clients for anything other than a byelaw offence and therefore are not subject of any of the cases that have been brought unlawfully by other prosecution authorities in the cases now highlighted by the media.

Therefore, all cases brought by Transport Investigations have been conducted legally and in accordance with the law.
We have received a high level of attempts by individuals who believe that they should not have been prosecuted demanding repayment of any monies paid either by way of a court action or an administrative disposal.

Those individuals who have been brought to court incorrectly will of course be subject to review by the courts and will be contacted by said courts in due time and we support wholeheartedly that all cases brought before the courts should be legal and correct.

Transport Investigations however are not one of the Prosecution Authorities that have brought any of these cases and therefore any such claim is incorrect, and we strongly recommend any person who believes otherwise to obtain independent legal advice from a Criminal Solicitor who is registered with the Law Society and who has experience in rail fare law.