UK Offence Report

Offences and power to make byelaws

article 40(7) of The River Mersey (Mersey Gateway Bridge) Order 2011

This offence was read from the text as made, and no revised version was available, so a later revocation could not be ruled out. Check the current text at legislation.gov.uk.

What the provision says

7 Without prejudice to paragraph (5),

a person who without reasonable excuse—

a refuses or fails to pay

a toll for which that person is liable; or

b attempts to evade payment of such

a toll, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to

a fine not exceeding level

3 on the standard scale.

Text as made, from legislation.gov.uk. © Crown copyright, reused under the Open Government Licence v3.0. This is the text as originally made; later amendments are not shown here.

Who it binds, and what has to be proved

Binds
a person
Conduct
failing to do something the instrument requires
Fault element
Strict liability
Burden of proof
An element of the offence, for the prosecution to prove

The prosecution must prove that the conduct happened. This is a strict liability offence as drafted: the provision uses no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence, so there is no need to show that a person meant to do it, knew about it, or was careless.

Intention, knowledge and carelessness are irrelevant to guilt. They may still matter a great deal to sentence.

“Without reasonable excuse” here is an element of the offence rather than a defence, so its absence is for the prosecution to prove (R v Charles [2009] EWCA Crim 1570).

Classifier’s reasoning: no word of intention, knowledge, recklessness or negligence in the offence or its provision; qualified by reasonable excuse (an element; prosecution disproves once raised).

The defence, as drafted

7 Without prejudice to paragraph (5), a person who without reasonable excuse— a refuses or fails to pay a toll for which that person is liable; or b attempts to evade payment of such a toll, shall be guilty of an offence and liable on summary conviction to a fine not exceeding level 3 on the standard scale.

What would breach article 40(7)?

These are illustrations, not law. They are generated from the provision’s own words to show the shape of the offence. Whether any particular conduct is caught depends on the full text, on any amendment since, and on the facts.

  1. On these words an offence is committed where a person without reasonable excuse— a refuses or fails to pay a toll for which that person is liable; or b attempts to evade payment of such a toll.
  2. Not doing what the provision requires under the River Mersey (Mersey Gateway Bridge) Order 2011, by the time it requires it to be done.
  3. Doing it, but not in the manner or to the standard the instrument specifies.

Penalty

Mode of trial
Summary only — tried in a magistrates’ court
Maximum fine
£1,000
Standard scale
Level 3
Maximum prison (summary)
Not determined

Sentencing

Offences of this kind are usually sentenced under the guidelines below. This is a mapping by subject, not a finding about this provision, and the links go to a search of the Sentencing Council’s own site.

Prosecution figures

No published per-offence figure was found for this provision, and it could not be matched to a Ministry of Justice offence code. Offences created by statutory instrument very largely do not have one. Absence of a figure is not evidence that the offence is unused.

Status and lifecycle

Current status
Status not determined
Made
11 January 2011
In force from
1 February 2011
Extent
Not stated

How this was established: read from the text as made; no revised version available, so later revocation could not be ruled out.

What the instrument is for

(This note is not part of the Order) — the explanatory note published with the instrument, © Crown copyright.

This Order authorises Halton Borough Council to construct, operate and maintain a bridge between Runcorn and Widnes for vehicles over and in the River Mersey and St Helen’s Canal and over the Manchester Ship Canal and Bridgewater Canal together with all the necessary related and ancillary works. For the purpose of the new bridge the Order authorises Halton Borough Council, compulsorily or by agreement to purchase land and rights in land and to use lands. It provides for the new bridge over the River Mersey to be subject to tolls payable by those who use the new bridge in vehicles, and for enforcement powers in respect of non-payment of such tolls. The Order also authorises the making of alterations to the highway network, the power temporarily to close the River Mersey, St Helen’s Canal, Manchester Ship Canal and Bridgewater Canal, to remove vessels and to make byelaws. A copy of the works plans and the land plans and book of reference mentioned in this Order and certified in accordance with article 59 (certification of plans, etc.) of this Order may be inspected free of charge at the offices of Halton Borough Council, Municipal Building, Kingsway, Widnes WA8 7QF.

Read the full note and every offence in this instrument

Other offences in the same instrument

How this was identified as an offence

Everything above rests on the judgement that this provision creates a criminal offence, rather than mentioning one. That judgement is made by rule, from the words of the provision, and this is the rule that made it — with a confidence of 0.92.

Basis
the provision says a person is “guilty of an offence”
Confidence
0.92 of 1.00

A provision that states a penalty for an offence created elsewhere can read very like one that creates an offence, and the rules can mistake the one for the other. If the text quoted above sets a penalty for something made an offence by another provision, treat the classification on this page with that in mind, and read the instrument.

Check the source