Almost £5m paid out to miscarriage of justice victims accused of fare dodging
Nearly £5 million has been paid out to victims of one of Britain’s biggest miscarriages of justice but thousands of people may still not know they were affected by the scandal, it has been revealed.
uncertain
it → pay → scandal
More than 48,000 people had their criminal convictions overturned after a 2024 ruling that train companies had spent years unlawfully using the fast-track Single Justice Procedure (SJP) to prosecute alleged fare dodging.
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companies → have → dodging
Letters went out to all the people who had been wrongly convicted, and newly-released Ministry of Justice (MoJ) data shows £4,900,096 in fines, costs, and court fees have been repaid so far.
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4,900,096 → go → fines
But figures show that more than half the people who paid their fines have not yet come forward, with £2,603,463 in financial penalties waiting to be repaid, while thousands more affected people may not even know that their convictions have been overturned.
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convictions → show → penalties
After the data release, thanks to a Freedom of Information Act request, the MoJ has been accused of not doing enough to track down all the victims of the scandal.
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MoJ → accuse → scandal
Penelope Gibbs, the director of campaign group Transform Justice which obtained the data, said: “The biggest miscarriage of justice in English and Welsh history has been compounded by the unwillingness of the state to find and compensate victims.
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miscarriage → obtain → victims
“The State should make every effort to ensure people know their criminal conviction is null and void.
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conviction → make → effort
“The Ministry of Justice has no idea whether most of the victims do.
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most → have → victims
“They should also compensate everyone who paid an average of £319 in fines and costs for not having the right train ticket.
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who → compensate → ticket
Compensating a minority of victims is no way good enough.”
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Compensating → compensate → victims
The scale of the problem was revealed in August 2024, when chief magistrate Paul Goldspring ruled on six test cases of prosecutions for fare evasion, finding that they were invalid because they had been brought through the Single Justice Procedure.
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they → reveal → Procedure
The fast-track court process, which allows magistrates to convict and sentence in private, can only be used for a specific set of offences decided on by Parliament and Judge Goldspring concluded MPs “didn’t envisage these offences being prosecuted through the Single Justice Procedure”.
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offences → allow → Procedure
The MoJ is understood to have used last-known addresses to write to all 48,222 affected people, telling them convictions dating from 2018 and 2023 have been quashed.
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convictions → understand → 2018
A total of 23,510 of them had paid the original fine after being convicted, but only 10,339 responded to collect their repayment.
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10,339 → pay → repayment
The MoJ says it is continuing to make efforts to contact everyone who was wrongly convicted, but did not elaborate on the steps being taken to track down those who have changed address in the intervening years.
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who → say → years
Eight train firms: Northern, Transpennine, Avanti West Coast, Greater Anglia, Great Western Railway, Arriva Rail Northern, Merseyrail, Govia and C2C – were found to have brought invalid prosecutions, with many involving allegations of fare evasion under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which is not on Parliament’s list of approved offences for the Single Justice Procedure.
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which → find → Procedure
“While fare evasion should be tackled, the right process should always be followed”, a Government spokesperson said.
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spokesperson → tackle → ?
“We have contacted those affected whose details are available and set out how to arrange refunds where appropriate.”
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details → contact → refunds
The scandal prompted apologies from the train companies, and sparked a Government review and overhaul of the way allegations of fare evasion are tackled.
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allegations → prompt → evasion
It also heaped pressure on the Government to deliver reform of the SJP system, where magistrates sit alone to decide on criminal cases in bulk.
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magistrates → heap → bulk
The Magistrates Association issued a demand in 2024 for reform of the system, saying its members feel pressured to take quick decisions due to the design of the fast track courts and, this month, it restated its desire for change after a series of scandals around the fairness of the system.
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it → issue → system
The Government is currently reviewing the SJP system and has promised to “set out reforms shortly”.
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Government → review → reforms
The Aporia
