Throughout April Lansbury Worthington continued to have success in avoiding prosecution where the effects of a conviction would have been extremely damaging.

R v S

Mr S had been summoned to appear before Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court for an offence of fare evasion by Transport for London. The allegation was that Mr S had used a concessionary travel pass in his father’s name.

Had Mr S been prosecuted and convicted before the court he would have received a criminal conviction that would have caused significant difficulties for Mr S and his employment. Fortunately he sought the assistance of Lansbury Worthington before appearing in court and Ben Holden, the solicitor acting on his behalf, was able to make successful representations to TfL which resulted in an out of court disposal, avoided a conviction and any adverse consequences for his employment.

R v K

Ms K was caught travelling on the London underground having used a concessionary travel pass in another person’s name. She was summoned to appear before Hammersmith Magistrates’ Court to answer an allegation of fare evasion, which had she been found guilty would have resulted in a conviction and a criminal record.

On receipt of the summons Ms K instructed Lansbury Worthington and we were able to make representations on her behalf to Transport for London who had brought the summons. Ms K was a young lady with no previous convictions or cautions, had she been prosecuted and convicted she would have received a criminal record that would have been disclosable in large number of situations from employment to foreign travel. Of particular significance to Ms K was the fact that she was looking for a career in the legal sector, and the stricter disclosure requirements of previous convictions would have made it much more difficult to pursue that career. However, by instructing Lansbury Worthington at an early stage we were successfully able to get TfL to agree to withdraw the summons and deal with the matter by way of an out of court disposal thereby avoiding any risk that she would receive a criminal record.