Rail prosecutions: The six minute train journey that became a long legal nightmare

Nearly a year to the day later in 2023, Ms Cook received a letter telling her she was being fined £500.

“That escalated to going to court,” she says. “Filling out a lot of forms, pleading guilty, pleading not guilty, the threat of a criminal record, the threat of a bigger fine, the threat of jail time, up to two years.”

In the end, she did have to fork out some money. “After the threat of everything else, it was a ginormous £4,” she says.

It turns out Ms Cook wasn’t the only one caught out.

Last week, a ruling by the chief magistrate for England and Wales found the prosecutions by rail companies against Ms Cook and five other people were “unlawful” and declared them void.

As a result, an estimated 74,000 other cases will be re-examined. If rail companies are found to have acted unlawfully in those instances, prosecutions could be quashed and fines could be refunded.

For Ms Cook the ruling “feels good”.

“It’s a good win for all involved,” she says. “I’m just sad it took this long to get it sorted.”

So who could be in line to have their convictions quashed and get a refund?