Nottingham student ended up in court and was fined £1,150 after not buying tram ticket

A University of Nottingham student who was initially given a £50 fine for not buying a tram ticket, ended up with an £1,150 fine and an arrest warrant.

Adam, who at the time was a first year student, received a £50 fine in March 2020, after being unable to buy a ticket due to his phone being dead.

He said: “The tram arrived and I took the risk of just jumping on and heading back to halls rather than pay for a ticket at the machine and wait fifteen minutes for the next tram.”

When asked to show his ticket at the University of Nottingham stop he explained that he did not have one due to his phone having no battery.

He was asked for his details, including his name and address, and was fined £50.

Shortly after receiving the fine Adam was requested to leave campus due to the coronavirus outbreak. Consequently, he did not receive communications about the fine as Ancaster Hall was no longer his address.

He told us he attempted to but was unable to pay for his fine over the phone whilst at home.

A NET spokesperson commented: “All customer service telephone lines, including for the payment of penalty notices, remained operational throughout the coronavirus pandemic.”

Despite this Adam said: “I called the number and didn’t get through and then the line died.”

Six months after receiving the fine Adam got a Teams message from a stranger about a letter that was circulating around the Ancaster Hall freshers group chat stating [he] had an arrest warrant and [his] fine now sits at £450.

He expressed his disappointment in the university, as even though he was paying a full residents fee they did not forward or inform him of any post received.

He felt as if his privacy had been invaded and said: “[The university] allowed people to be entertained about a really stressful time in [his] life, it really wasn’t on.”

After receiving the message, he contacted the court who informed him that as he was charged without his knowledge, he will need to prove this in court via a statutory declaration.

Due to Covid and magistrate strikes, the wait for this was very long and his fine was increased to £1150.

During this time bailiffs turned up at his Mum’s house in London.

They demanded money or to collect damages worth £1,150.

Adam said: “After I explained the situation, they said it doesn’t matter what I say or show them because the court is their client and their clients hadn’t confirmed anything I was saying.”

Eventually, the bailiff said he would return but never did.

18 months after receiving the fine, on 7th December last year, he went to court. Dressed in a Pulp Fiction t-shirt, the judges accepted his explanation of events and took his fine down from £1,150 to £114.

He said: “The court understood everything and waived my court fees, they were really nice, probably because they realised I didn’t have a solicitor and was doing everything on my own and was really stressed.”

Adam shared how stressful the whole situation turned out to be and said: “The uni was really really shit” as they did not deal with the letters that led to the fine increasing.

A University spokesperson said: “Whilst we cannot comment on an individual case, our Accommodation Services team would be happy to look into this students’ concerns about how their correspondence was handled during the period where the University was following government pandemic restrictions.”

The NET spokesperson also commented: “The vast majority of customers pay the correct fare, and they expect us to take effective measures against those who travel without a valid ticket. Therefore we would like to take this opportunity to remind anyone using the tram that it is their responsibility to buy a ticket or validate their card before boarding.

“To be fair to everyone, Travel Officers cannot use their own discretion when issuing a penalty fare notice. However, a robust, three-stage appeals process is in place for anyone who feels they have been treated unfairly and this is clearly explained, along with details on how to make payment, on the notice itself.”

NET currently operate a zero tolerance campaign called “Pay Up Duck!”. Since March, everyone without a valid ticket will receive an immediate £70 penalty charge, with a percentage of these penalty fares being donated to a Ukranian refugee charity.

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