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Hi,
This is my first time posting here, but I'll try and keep this as brief as possible..
I received a letter just before Christmas from Merseyside Magistrates Court to say that I owed £370 for a fine (which really made my Christmas...not). There was no explanation, just a "final notice" type letter, ways to pay, and that this needed to be paid within 2 weeks or they could come and remove my belongings to pay for this fine. I had no previous warning of this, and no letters had been sent to me before this time.
Obviously I phoned up right away to see what this fine was for before paying, and was told it was for a train fine for having no ticket and cost of "damages" from a station I'd never been to. They couldn't give me an specific time, only a date (which I find unacceptable), and I was told that someone had given my name and date of birth on being stopped. I have a pretty common first and last name so this wouldn't have been hard to guess or pluck out of thin air.
Although they can't give me a specific time of the offense, I was in work that day (8 - 5.30), and live and work 40-50 minutes from this station so there's a high chance I have a solid alibi.
So... I was then advised to book in to make a statutory declaration in my local court to plead not guilty. After booking and making my declaration in court (today) I was told that I would now have to go to Merseyside court in 2 weeks time to have a hearing (I think that's what it was called). I was told that I could appeal for travel expenses, but not loss of income or anything.
How is this possible that I have done nothing at all wrong, have a solid alibi due to me being in work that day, but still have to get time off work, and lose out on at least a day and a half of my time/pay to sort all this mess.
How can it be that I'm not guilty but still have to be out of pocket for this?! Is there anything I can do, can I get compensation from the train company somehow, it's their fault they have poor identification checks, not mine.
I'm in the process of buying my first house and can't afford to be losing out on pay or taking unnecessary days off for this, it seems ridiculous.
Is there any advice or suggestions on what I can do in this situation, any info would be hugely appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
This is my first time posting here, but I'll try and keep this as brief as possible..
I received a letter just before Christmas from Merseyside Magistrates Court to say that I owed £370 for a fine (which really made my Christmas...not). There was no explanation, just a "final notice" type letter, ways to pay, and that this needed to be paid within 2 weeks or they could come and remove my belongings to pay for this fine. I had no previous warning of this, and no letters had been sent to me before this time.
Obviously I phoned up right away to see what this fine was for before paying, and was told it was for a train fine for having no ticket and cost of "damages" from a station I'd never been to. They couldn't give me an specific time, only a date (which I find unacceptable), and I was told that someone had given my name and date of birth on being stopped. I have a pretty common first and last name so this wouldn't have been hard to guess or pluck out of thin air.
Although they can't give me a specific time of the offense, I was in work that day (8 - 5.30), and live and work 40-50 minutes from this station so there's a high chance I have a solid alibi.
So... I was then advised to book in to make a statutory declaration in my local court to plead not guilty. After booking and making my declaration in court (today) I was told that I would now have to go to Merseyside court in 2 weeks time to have a hearing (I think that's what it was called). I was told that I could appeal for travel expenses, but not loss of income or anything.
How is this possible that I have done nothing at all wrong, have a solid alibi due to me being in work that day, but still have to get time off work, and lose out on at least a day and a half of my time/pay to sort all this mess.
How can it be that I'm not guilty but still have to be out of pocket for this?! Is there anything I can do, can I get compensation from the train company somehow, it's their fault they have poor identification checks, not mine.
I'm in the process of buying my first house and can't afford to be losing out on pay or taking unnecessary days off for this, it seems ridiculous.
Is there any advice or suggestions on what I can do in this situation, any info would be hugely appreciated!
Thanks in advance,
