Thousands of people accused of fare evasion will be able to walk free after a landmark ruling. The prosecutions by train companies are set to be declared void after a judge’s ruling. Four train companies including Northern Rail and Greater Anglia brought prosecutions against thousands of passengers using the single justice procedure (SJP), despite not being permitted to do so.
At a hearing in June, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring told Westminster Magistrates’ Court that he believed the prosecutions were “void” and “probably unlawful”, with lawyers for rail companies telling a further hearing last month that they were “in agreement” the cases should be quashed. In a ruling at the same court on Thursday, Judge Goldspring said that six “test cases” should be declared a “nullity”, so it was “as if as though the proceedings never existed”. Giving a summary of his judgment, he said: “ Parliament did not envisage these offences being prosecuted through the SJP.
“They should never have been brought through that process. This is, to my mind, a paradigm nullity.” He continued: “I’m satisfied that the correct approach is to declare each of the prosecutions void and a nullity.
” The exact number of those affected is currently unknown, with a previous hearing told that around 75,000 people could have been prosecuted for fare evasion offences under the SJP. Judge Goldspring said that “the number seems to change every time I ask” but a figure of �.