Four rail companies including Northern Trains and Greater Anglia unlawfully prosecuted more than 74,000 passengers in England and Wales using the single justice procedure (SJP), which allowed fast-track magistrates court hearings on fare evasion cases to be held behind closed doors.
The challenge began when the Department for Transport (DFT) alerted the Ministry of Justice that four train operators were using SJP to prosecute without permission.
At a hearing in June, the chief magistrate, Paul Goldspring, told Westminster magistrates court he believed the prosecutions were void and "probably unlawful". At a further hearing in July, lawyers for the rail companies said they were in agreement the cases should be quashed.
Yesterday Goldspring said six test cases should be declared a "nullity", so it was "as if as though the proceedings never existed".
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