False name train fine cancelled after 'fiasco'

A woman who was incorrectly fined for travelling without a rail ticket has been told by the courts that it has been withdrawn.

Another woman had falsely given the name of Loretta Cawcutt, 55, from Farley Hill, Luton when she was stopped by an inspector at St Albans station in June 2023 for not having a valid ticket.

Govia Thameslink Railway sent Ms Cawcutt an email saying they were sorry she had been a victim of fraud and told her she would need to attend court to get the case cancelled.

Essex Magistrates' Court, in Chelmsford, has now emailed to her to say the case had been listed for withdrawal.

Ms Cawcutt said it was a "fiasco" that the correspondence relating to the train fine was being sent to the address of the woman who had used her identity in order to avoid the fare.

She found out she was being penalised only when she saw money was being taken out of her universal credit each month after she had been taken to court and sentenced in her absence, with a fine of £484.

Ms Cawcutt, who suffers from long term post-traumatic stress disorder, said: "I know it is not the biggest crime in the world but how can you put someone through this?

"No-one understands how traumatic it is for me to deal with all this."

She contacted Action Fraud, the UK's national reporting centre for fraud and cybercrime.

It told Ms Cawcutt: "Whilst the misuse of your identity cannot be classified as a police recorded crime, we do recognise that identity theft can cause significant distress and inconvenience."

Ms Cawcutt said the whole experience had affected her badly and described it as a "shambles".

A spokesperson for Govia Thameslink Railway said: "We are extremely saddened to hear of this sickening fraud which has obviously caused so much distress to Ms Cawcutt.

"Sadly, we had no idea someone had used her name."

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