Greater Anglia facing paying out for single justice procedure use

Tens of thousands of passengers who were prosecuted and fined for fare evasion are set to be refunded after a judge ruled that their convictions were void.

Greater Anglia is one of seven firms which used the controversial single justice procedure, despite not being permitted to do so.

In a ruling on Thursday at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, Chief Magistrate Paul Goldspring said six “test cases” should be declared “void”, adding that the cases of thousands of others would be dealt with in the same way over the coming months.

Greater Anglia has promised to ensure customers affected are “quickly and fully reimbursed”.

The single justice procedure system was set up in 2015 to allow magistrates to decide on minor offences, such as using a television without a licence or driving without car insurance, without defendants going to court.

Rail companies were permitted to use the system in 2016 to privately prosecute fare evaders, but many have been brought under the Regulation of Railways Act 1889, which is not allowed under the procedure.

In June, Judge Goldspring said those convictions were “probably unlawful”, with lawyers for rail companies telling a further hearing last month they were “in agreement” the prosecutions should be thrown out.

Those affected by the ruling were prosecuted by one of the seven companies between 2018 and 2023, with the “vast majority” of cases prosecuted from 2020.

A spokesperson for Greater Anglia said: “Following the hearing at Westminster Magistrates’ Court, we are now working to ensure all those who are entitled to compensation as a result of this procedural error are quickly and fully reimbursed.

“Like many in the industry, we acted in good faith following the introduction of the Single Justice Procedure in 2016, but we apologise for using this process incorrectly.”

The Echo was told by c2c that it did not use the single justice procedure to prosecute fare dodgers.