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 “over 74,000” was a “best guess at the moment”. Thursday’s ruling only affects the six “test cases”, with the judge putting in motion plans for the thousands of other prosecutions to be declared void in the same way.
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